Chinese cash coins were first produced during the Warring States period, and they became standardised as the Ban Liang (半兩) coinage during the Qin dynasty which followed. Over the years, cash coins have had many different inscriptions, and the Wu Zhu (五銖) inscription, which first appeared under the Han dynasty, became the most commonly used inscription and was often used by succeeding dynasties for 700 years until the introduction of the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) during the Tang dynasty. This was also the first time regular script was used as all earlier cash coins exclusively used seal script. During the Song dynasty a large number of different inscriptions was used, and several different styles of Chinese calligraphy were used, even on coins with the same inscriptions produced during the same period. These cash coins are known as matched coins (對錢). This was originally pioneered by the Southern Tang.

After the Mongols conquered China the Yuan dynasty largely deprecated copper coinage in favour of paper money. This trend continued under the Ming dynasty. After the Chinese became independent again, during the Ming dynasty, cash coins only contained the reign titles of the emperor. Due to a naming taboo the term "Yuanbao" (元寶) was phased out from cash coin inscriptions as the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had the word "Yuan" (元) in his name.

Under the ManchuQing dynasty the trend of exclusively using the reign title of the Emperor continued, and all cash coins issued during this period were written in regular script.

Below is a list of obverse inscriptions that were used on Chinese cash coins organized by period and/or dynasty.^[1][2][3]

Warring states period[edit]

During the Warring states period of the Zhou dynasty the first precursors of the Chinese cash coins started to appear. These early round coins (圜錢, huánqián) circulated alongside the knife and spade money. As most of these early round coins had round holes, the first "true" cash coins were the Yi Hua (一化) produced by the State of Yan.^[4][5] Apart from two small and presumably late coins from the State of Qin, coins from the spade money area have a round hole and refer to the jin and liang units. Those from the knife money area have a square hole and are denominated in hua.^[6]

Round hole, no rims, reverses plain and flat[edit]

List of early round coins produced between 350 BC and 220 BC:^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

State of Yan[edit]

List of early round coins produced by the State of Yan between 300 BC and 220 BC:^[12]

State of Qi[edit]

List of early round coins produced by the State of Qi between 300 BC and 220 BC:

State of Qin[edit]

List of early round coins produced by the State of Qin between 250 BC and 220 BC:

Qin dynasty[edit]

During the Qin dynasty production of the Ban Liang cash coins continued and its weight was standardised.^[13]

Western Han dynasty[edit]

Under the Western Han dynasty the Ban Liang cash coins of the earlier Qin dynasty were retained until a series of monetary reforms replaced them first with the San Zhu and then the Wu Zhu, the latter would be continued to be manufactured for around 700 years.

Xin dynasty[edit]

After Wang Mang usurped the throne he instituted various monetary reforms, in AD 9 he retained the Wu Zhu cash coins but introduced two new types of Knife money, between AD 9 and 10 he introduced an impossibly complex system involving tortoise shell, cowries, gold, silver, six round copper coins, and a reintroduction of the spade money in ten denominations. In AD 14, all these tokens were abolished, and replaced by another type of spade coin and new round coins.^{[14][15][16][17]}

List of cash coins issued by the Xin dynasty:

Chengjia[edit]

The rebel Gongsun Shu cast iron cash coins based on the Wu Zhu's of the Western Han dynasty in his rebel state of Chengjia in present-day Sichuan:^[18]

Eastern Han dynasty[edit]

The Eastern Han dynasty only cast Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins.^[19]

Kingdom of Khotan[edit]

List of cash coins produced by the Kingdom of Khotan:^[20][21][22]

The Three Kingdoms[edit]

List of Chinese cash coins issued during Three Kingdoms period:^[23]

Kingdom of Kucha[edit]

List of cash coins produced by the Kingdom of Kucha:^{[24][25][2][26]}

Inscription (Obverse)	Inscription (Reverse)	Approximate years of production	Differentiating features	Image
Blank	Blank	265–589	These have a rim around the square centre hole on one side while the other side is rimless, they tend to thin on the outside while they're thick on the inside.
Blank	Blank	265–589	Similar to the first type but these cash coins have no inner rim.
Blank	Blank	265–589	These cash coins are completely without rim but are square in shape and have a square centre hole, they tend to be very thin.
Blank	Blank	265–589	These cash coins are irregularly shaped, diminutive in size, thin, and are cast of poor workmanship. Some are merely five millimeters in diameter and weigh as little as 0.2 grams.
五銖 (Wu Zhu)	An undecipheredKuśiññe language inscription.	Unknown	These are the only known cash coins produced by Kucha with an inscription.

Jin Dynasty and the 16 Kingdoms[edit]

List of Chinese cash coins produced during the Jin dynasty and Sixteen Kingdoms period:^[27][2]

The North and South dynasties[edit]

List of cash coins produced by the Northern and Southern dynasties:^[29][30]

Sui dynasty[edit]

The Sui dynasty only cast Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins.^[31][32]

Tang dynasty[edit]

List of cash coins issued by the Tang dynasty:^[33]