Cast coinage
Encyclopedia
Cast coinage refers to coin
s made by pouring melted metal into a mold, i.e. casting. It has been used for regular coins, particularly in the Far East, but also on a smaller scale. (e.g.: the ancient Mediterranean world.) The method differs from the current mode of coin production, which is done by striking coin blanks that have been cut out of metal sheets. The method has also been used by forgers.
, brass
or iron
. Traditional Far Eastern coins were generally cast base metal coins, although silver
and gold
bars were also manufactured, e.g. Chinese sycee, Japanese obans and kobans, and Vietnamese lang and tien.
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s made by pouring melted metal into a mold, i.e. casting. It has been used for regular coins, particularly in the Far East, but also on a smaller scale. (e.g.: the ancient Mediterranean world.) The method differs from the current mode of coin production, which is done by striking coin blanks that have been cut out of metal sheets. The method has also been used by forgers.
Far Eastern cash coins
Traditional Far Eastern cast coins - so-called 'cash coins' - are the most famous example of cast coinage, and were issued from the 4th century BCE to about 1912 CE, predominantly in bronzeBronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
, brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
or iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
. Traditional Far Eastern coins were generally cast base metal coins, although silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
bars were also manufactured, e.g. Chinese sycee, Japanese obans and kobans, and Vietnamese lang and tien.