Cash Público Deposited
The name given by foreigners to the Chinese copper coin with a square hole in the centre. The term is probably derived through the Portuguese word Caixa, from the Telugu and Karanese word Kasu (q.v.), and the Tamil Kas, which, in turn, prob- ably comes from the Sanskrit Karsha, or Karshapana. The Chinese call this coin by various names, Ch'ien (q.v.) being the most common. The more modern Chinese term is Wen (q.v.), which is the word ex- pressed in Chinese characters on many of the modern copper coins that bear as well the English word Cash. The Chinese Li, the thousandth part of a Tael, is the equi- valent of the word Cash.
The coin known as Cash has been for about two thousand years of an almost uni- form design, circular in shape, and with a square hole in the centre, the object of the latter feature being for the purpose of stringing (a string of Cash being known as a Kuan, Ch'uan or Tiao, q.v.).
These coins are cast and sometimes are of fine brass, while others are a mixture of copper, spelter, and iron.
The inscriptions on these coins since A.D. 621 are mostly uniform. The char- acters to the right and left can be trans- lated " current coin " or " currency," while those at the top and bottom are the names of the emperors, or more properly the name under which their reign is known. For the most part the value has been one li or one thousandth, though multiples of two and live have been made from early times. During the nineteenth century, fol- lowing the Tai Ping rebellion tokens up to 1000 cash in denomination were issued.
In 1895 some improvement was made in the coinage, the pieces being made of uniform size and struck instead of cast.
About the year 1900, when silver was no longer circulated in China by weight, hut by value, copper was struck of one general design for the different provinces into which the country is divided. The new denomination consisted of 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 cash. The 10 cash in Kwang Tung Province bore the inscription ONE CENT, probably due to the influence of the Hong Kong coinage. These new coins had a dragon on one side, and the central hole was no longer retained except for the Kwang Tung issues. Conf, also Ramsden, in Spink (xxiii. 163-169), and see Kas.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)