---
title: "How to Read Old Chinese Coins: Square-Hole Cash, 通宝, Feng Shui Coins and the Coins of Today, With Pinyin"
description: "How to read the four characters on an old Chinese coin, why it has a square hole, the famous coins from 半两 to 乾隆通宝, the five emperor coins on a red string, why 贝 means money, the coins in use today, and 35 words with pinyin and sound."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-coins"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Free · 35 words

# Chinese coins

[Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E7%A1%AC%E5%B8%81%20%E9%92%B1%E5%B8%81%20%E9%92%B1%20%E9%93%9C%E9%92%B1%20%E9%93%9C%E6%9D%BF%20%E9%93%B6%E5%85%83%20%E8%A2%81%E5%A4%A7%E5%A4%B4%20%E5%85%83%E5%AE%9D%20%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E5%B8%81%20%E9%80%9A%E5%AE%9D%20%E8%B4%AF%20%E4%B8%80%E6%96%87%E4%B8%8D%E5%80%BC%20%E9%93%B8%20%E6%AD%A3%E9%9D%A2%20%E8%83%8C%E9%9D%A2%20%E6%94%B6%E8%97%8F%20%E8%B4%9D%20%E8%B4%A2%20%E8%B4%A7%20%E8%B4%B5%20%E4%B9%B0%20%E8%B5%9A%20%E5%85%83%20%E5%9D%97%20%E8%A7%92%20%E6%AF%9B%20%E5%88%86%20%E8%8F%8A%E8%8A%B1%20%E8%8D%B7%E8%8A%B1%20%E5%85%B0%E8%8A%B1%20%E5%9B%BD%E5%BE%BD%20%E9%A3%8E%E6%B0%B4%20%E6%8B%9B%E8%B4%A2%20%E5%8E%8B%E5%B2%81%E9%92%B1%20%E5%A4%96%E5%9C%86%E5%86%85%E6%96%B9)

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## Famous Chinese coins, and how to know them

| | In Chinese | When | How to know it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Banliang | 半两 bànliǎng | Qin dynasty, from 221 BC | The first round coin with a square hole for all China: two characters, “half an ounce” |
| Wuzhu | 五铢 wǔzhū | Han dynasty, from 118 BC | “Five grains” of weight; made for some seven hundred years |
| Kaiyuan tongbao | 开元通宝 kāiyuán tōngbǎo | Tang dynasty, from 621 | The first 通宝, “circulating treasure”, the pattern for the next 1,300 years |
| Yuanfeng tongbao | 元丰通宝 yuánfēng tōngbǎo | Song dynasty, 1078–1085 | Often read round clockwise, and cast in several styles of calligraphy |
| Kangxi tongbao | 康熙通宝 kāngxī tōngbǎo | Qing dynasty, 1662–1722 | The reign name on the front; the mint’s name in Manchu script on the back |
| Qianlong tongbao | 乾隆通宝 qiánlóng tōngbǎo | Qing dynasty, 1736–1795 | One of the commonest old coins found today |
| Five emperor coins | 五帝钱 wǔdì qián | A charm today | Coins of five Qing reigns, 顺治 to 嘉庆, strung on a red thread for wealth and protection |
| Yuan Shikai dollar | 袁大头 Yuán dàtóu | From 1914 | A silver dollar with Yuan Shikai’s head: “big-head Yuan” |
| One yuan coin | 一元硬币 yì yuán yìngbì | Today | A chrysanthemum on one side; the five jiao coin has a lotus and the one jiao an orchid |

## Coins and money

yìng硬bì币

coin

qián钱bì币

coin; money

qián钱

coin

tóng铜qián钱

copper coin (with a square hole)

tóng铜bǎn板

copper coin

yín银yuán元

silver dollar

yuán袁dà大tóu头

Yuan Shikai silver dollar

yuán元bǎo宝

gold or silver ingot (old currency)

rén人mín民bì币

renminbi; RMB (Chinese currency)

## Reading old coins

tōng通bǎo宝

(old coin inscription) currency coin

guàn贯

(archaic) string of 1000 cash (old coins)

yī一wén文bù不zhí值

worthless

zhù铸

to cast (metal); to found

zhèng正miàn面

front; facade

bèi背miàn面

back; reverse side

shōu收cáng藏

to collect; collection

## Money in the characters

bèi贝

money (ancient)

cái财

wealth; money

huò货

money

guì贵

expensive; costly

mǎi买

to buy; to purchase

zhuàn赚

to earn; to make a profit

## Units and coins today

yuán元

yuan (unit of Chinese money)

kuài块

classifier for money: yuan

jiǎo角

jiao (one tenth of a yuan)

máo毛

mao (one tenth of a yuan)

fēn分

cent (0.01 yuan)

jú菊huā花

chrysanthemum

hé荷huā花

lotus

lán兰huā花

orchid

guó国huī徽

national emblem

## Luck and sayings

fēng风shuǐ水

feng shui; geomancy

zhāo招cái财

to attract wealth

yā压suì岁qián钱

money given to children at Chinese New Year

wài外yuán圆nèi内fāng方

gentle on the outside, principled inside

## Now read them in a real story

[**十两饺子**How to order dumplings in ChineseHSK 1 · 1 minRead it free](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-order-dumplings-in-chinese)

## How do you read old Chinese coins?

Most cash coins have four characters round the square hole, read top, bottom, right, left: on 乾隆通宝 (Qiánlóng tōngbǎo), 乾 is above the hole, 隆 below, 通 on the right and 宝 on the left. The first two are the reign name, 年号 (niánhào), which dates the coin; the last two say what it is, usually 通宝 (tōngbǎo), circulating treasure, or 元宝 (yuánbǎo) or 重宝 (zhòngbǎo). Some coins, many from the Song, are read round clockwise instead: top, right, bottom, left. On Qing coins the back carries the mint’s name in Manchu.

## Why do Chinese coins have a square hole?

So they could be strung together: a string of a thousand coins, a 贯 (guàn), was a common sum, and a single coin was a 文 (wén), which is why 一文不值 (yì wén bù zhí), not worth one coin, means worthless. The square hole also held the coins still on a square rod while their edges were filed. People read meaning into it too: round like heaven outside, square like the earth inside, and 外圆内方 (wài yuán nèi fāng), round outside and square inside, came to mean gentle in manner but firm in principle.

## What do Chinese coins on a red string mean?

They are a charm for wealth, 招财 (zhāocái), and for keeping bad luck out, used in feng shui, 风水 (fēngshuǐ). The favourite is the five emperor coins, 五帝钱 (wǔdì qián), from the five Qing reigns of 顺治, 康熙, 雍正, 乾隆 and 嘉庆, when China was strong and rich. Three or five coins tied with red thread are hung by the door, put in a wallet or under a doormat, or tied to a red bracelet.

## What was the first Chinese money?

Cowrie shells. That is why so many characters about money have 贝 (bèi), shell, in them: 财 (cái), wealth, 货 (huò), goods, 贵 (guì), expensive, 买 (mǎi), to buy, and 赚 (zhuàn), to earn. In the Zhou dynasty, states cast bronze money in the shape of knives, 刀币 (dāobì), and spades, 布币 (bùbì), until the First Emperor made the round 半两 (bànliǎng) coin the one money of China.

## What coins are used in China today?

Coins, 硬币 (yìngbì), of one yuan, 元 (yuán), with a chrysanthemum, 菊花 (júhuā); five jiao, 角 (jiǎo), with a lotus, 荷花 (héhuā); and one jiao with an orchid, 兰花 (lánhuā). Ten jiao make one yuan. In speech a yuan is a 块 (kuài) and a jiao a 毛 (máo), so ¥1.50 is 一块五 (yí kuài wǔ). The fen, 分 (fēn), a hundredth of a yuan, is almost never seen, and most people pay by phone.

## How old is my Chinese coin, and is it real?

The reign name in the top and bottom characters tells you which emperor’s name it carries: 康熙 (Kāngxī) is 1662–1722, 乾隆 (Qiánlóng) 1736–1795, and so on. That is where to start, not proof: copies of old coins have been cast for centuries, and many sold as charms today are new. We do not value coins; a coin dealer or museum can.

## Can’t hear it?

Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead.

## More Chinese culture

- [Money in Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/money-in-chinese)
- [Chinese porcelain marks](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-porcelain)
- [Chinese good luck charms and symbols](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-good-luck-charms)
- [Chinese dynasties in order](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dynasties)

Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; the coins and dates from Wikipedia’s Cash (Chinese coin), Ban Liang, Wu zhu, Kaiyuan Tongbao and Renminbi. We do not date or value coins.