Xinjiang coins
Encyclopedia
Pre-Islamic Coins
The earliest coins made in the Tarim BasinTarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of about . It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The...
were the so-called "horse coins" of the "Yu Tian" kingdom near modern Hotan. These were struck around the second and third centuries with a horse image on one side and legends in Han and Kharosthi scripts.
Cast coins made in imitation of Chinese coins were also produced in the Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of about . It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The...
. The kingdom of Qiuzi (near modern Kucha
Kucha
Kuchaor Kuche Uyghur , Chinese Simplified: 库车; Traditional: 庫車; pinyin Kùchē; also romanized as Qiuzi, Qiuci, Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu from the traditional Chinese forms 屈支 屈茨; 龜玆; 龟兹, 丘玆, also Po ; Sanskrit: Kueina, Standard Tibetan: Kutsahiyui was an ancient Buddhist kingdom...
) produced coins similar to the Chinese "wu zhu" pieces. An early BuddhistUyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
kingdom also cast coins in Chinese style, but with Uyghur legends. The city-state of Gao Chang made its own coins in Chinese style, with the legend "Gao Chang Ji Li."
Islamic Coins
In the Tarim Basin, (in present-day XinjiangXinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
), Islamic, Arabic-language coins were struck under the Karakhanid, Chaghatay, Sayyidiya (Yarkand or Moghul Khanate), and Dzungar dynasties.
Red Cash (Qing Imperial Cast Coins)
China's Qing (Manchu) dynasty began casting coins in the far-Western region of "XinjiangXinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
" (Chinese for "The New Frontier," sometimes transliterated as "Sinkiang") in 1760, only one year after the emperor Qianlong's generals conquered the region's capitols of Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
and Yarkand. Not only did this primarily Muslim and Turkic-speaking region represent a distinct cultural landscape for the empire, but also a special economic environment. The many differences between the coinages of Xinjiang and the rest of China reflected the special demands of governing this area. The coins cast in Xinjiang were made from copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, rather than the brass used for the rest of the empire's coinage, leading to the nickname "red cash." These copper coins were valued at five of the standard cash, and provided some continuity with the monetary system used under the region's previous rulers, the Dzungar Mongols. Most of the red cash also displayed mint names in the local Turkic language. Lying far from the empire's center, Xinjiang was somewhat loosely governed by the court, and this is reflected in the great variety of coin types produced, some of them quite innovative. In spite of frequent rebellions and invasions, the coinage of red cash continued on and off through the nineteenth century and into the beginning of the twentieth. The final examples of red cash were cast in 1909 in the name of the last emperor, Xuantong (Puyi), using the same casting technology employed by Chinese mints for 2,000 years.
The red cash of Xinjiang are quite popular among Chinese collectors for their abundance of unusual types, and for their connection to the "Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
" and "Western Regions
Western Regions
The Western Regions or Xiyu was a historical name specified in the Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of Jade Gate, most often Central Asia or sometimes more specifically the easternmost portion of it The Western Regions or Xiyu was a...
" history/mythology. Some of the coins of Qing Xinjiang represent surprising breaks from Chinese coinage traditions. Most types are trilingual, and errors were abundant. Among the numerous types of red cash there are both great rarities and common pieces with strong historical significance.