Changes

For much of the pre-modern period, the Chinese economy ran on a combination of [[silver]] and [[copper]] coins. Coins were minted in China since at least the 4th century BCE, originally in a knife-like shape, acquiring a standard form of a circular coin with a square hole in the center from the [[Qin Dynasty]] onwards. The [[Qin Shihuangdi|first emperor of Qin]] banned all regional variant currencies other than the ''banliang'' (half-[[tael]]), making that coin the standard of the realm; from that time forward, round coins with square holes in the center remained the standard for roughly 2000 years, until the modern period.<ref>Gallery labels, British Museum.[https://flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/33763493818/in/photostream/]</ref> Though there was a unified standard of bronze coins up until the [[Song Dynasty]] ([[960]]-[[1279]]), the economy grew so large at that time, and demand for coin grew so great, that China shifted to multiple concurrent systems, using bronze/copper coins alongside unminted silver and paper money ("[[flying cash]]"), which was first developed and circulated in the early 11th century.

For much of the pre-modern period, the Chinese economy ran on a combination of [[silver]] and [[copper]] coins. Coins were minted in China since at least the 6th century BCE, originally in knife-like and spade-like shapes,<ref name=british>Gallery labels, British Museum.[https://flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/33763493818/in/photostream/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/32698425237/sizes/h/]</ref> acquiring a standard form of a circular coin with a square hole in the center from the [[Qin Dynasty]] onwards. The [[Qin Shihuangdi|first emperor of Qin]] banned all regional variant currencies other than the ''banliang'' (half-[[tael]]), making that coin the standard of the realm; from that time forward, round coins with square holes in the center remained the standard for roughly 2000 years, until the modern period.<ref name=british/> Though there was a unified standard of bronze coins up until the [[Song Dynasty]] ([[960]]-[[1279]]), the economy grew so large at that time, and demand for coin grew so great, that China shifted to multiple concurrent systems, using bronze/copper coins alongside unminted silver and paper money ("[[flying cash]]"), which was first developed and circulated in the early 11th century.

Silver was used for large purchases, while copper was used for smaller purchases. The Chinese government minted massive numbers of coins, especially in the [[Song Dynasty]], in such large amounts (several hundred billion coins over the course of the dynasty)<ref>Richard von Glahn, "The Ningbo-Hakata Merchant Network and the Reorientation of East Asian Maritime Trade, 1150-1350," ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies''  74:2 (2014), 251.</ref> that they came to be widely used throughout the region, and survive in great numbers today, going back even as far as the Han Dynasty.

Silver was used for large purchases, while copper was used for smaller purchases. The Chinese government minted massive numbers of coins, especially in the [[Song Dynasty]], in such large amounts (several hundred billion coins over the course of the dynasty)<ref>Richard von Glahn, "The Ningbo-Hakata Merchant Network and the Reorientation of East Asian Maritime Trade, 1150-1350," ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies''  74:2 (2014), 251.</ref> that they came to be widely used throughout the region, and survive in great numbers today, going back even as far as the Han Dynasty.