Cache (monetary unit)

Chinese round coins with a hole "qian" appeared as an imitation of copper rings, which played the role of commodity-money. The weight and size of the coins of various Chinese states and dynasties were different. On ancient coins, often only weight was indicated, less often - the place of casting. Gradually round coins with a hole pushed all the rest out of circulation.

The establishment of a single centralized state during the Tang Dynasty contributed to the strengthening of the economy and the establishment of a solid monetary unit - a coin weighing one qian. As a rule, Qian was cast from bronze, sometimes from copper , brass , and iron . Coins were cast in many mints, in some provinces there were 2-3 of them. There are several thousand varieties of Qian.

After the monetary reform of 1889, when the yuan (dollar) was set as the monetary unit, equal to the silver Mexican peso , qian continued to be used in circulation as a bargaining unit of ¹ ⁄ ₁₀₀₀ yuan or ¹ ⁄ ₁₀ fen (cent). At the beginning of the 20th century, at some mints, Qian began to not only cast, but also to mint. Coins made by minting often did not have a hole, and the denomination on them was indicated not only in Chinese, but also in English ( cash ). A significant number of types of multiple denominations were minted (2, 5, 10, 20 Qian, etc.), which were sometimes made earlier by casting. The production of coins in Qian ceased in the 1930s, they were withdrawn from circulation during the monetary reform of 1948-1952, which unified the monetary circulation of China ^{[4] [5] [6]} .

The issuance of Daikoviet coins began during the Ding Dynasty (end of the 10th century). The model for the first Vietnamese coins “ ” ( Vietnamese. Thái Bình hưng bảo ) was the Chinese Qian. In Vietnam, many names of these coins were used: “hung bao”, “feng bao”, “vin bao”, etc. ^[7] .

There are many types of these coins, issued both by state and periodically, and private mints. Coins were made of various metals and alloys: copper, bronze, zinc, lead. The minting of coins continued after the introduction of the single currency of French Indochina - the Indochinese piastre . Emperors of the French protectorate Annamé issued coins until 1945.

In the literature in Russian, the name of these coins is accepted - “ dong ” (from Vietnamese. Đồng ) ^{[8] [9]} . In English literature, the name " cash " is used ^[10] . Unlike the Chinese Qian in the Vietnamese Dong, the name of the currency was never indicated in English. Until 1945, inscriptions on coins were made in Chinese letters , the name of the currency was indicated by the hieroglyph “文” ( Vietnamese. Văn ) ^{[11] [12]} .

Small karsha coin “karsha” minted by various Indian states (from Skt. Karscha , also “kasu”, “kas”, “kash”), equal to ¹ ⁄ ₈₀ fans , was called “ cash ” in English ^[13] . The English name was indicated on some coins issued in the 19th century by the British East India Company . In the XX century, until 1935, only the principality of Travancore minted such coins, on coins in 4 and 8 karsh the denomination was indicated in English ( cash ) ^[14] .

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