Half Liang was first used in the Qin State during the Warring States Period, and was called "Warring States Half Liang". After Qin unified the six countries, the unified currency was still named Banliang, also known as "Qin Banliang". After the fall of Qin, Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and the currency system remained the same. Because the Han Dynasty initially followed the Qin Dynasty's banliang, it was called "Han Banliang".

The Qin's half-liang coin system was still used in the early Han Dynasty. However, Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, adopted an expedient measure to reduce military expenditures. He reduced the weight of the currency and allowed private minting. "Significant weight loss, "Half Liang" no longer lives up to its name.

Private money was allowed to be minted. As a result, in order to obtain huge profits, coin miners generally reduced the actual weight of the money and mixed lead and iron into copper, making bad coins rampant and prices soaring.

Due to the trauma of war in the early Han Dynasty, social productivity was greatly damaged. In this case, the shortcomings of Qin Banliang's excessive value and inconvenient circulation, which were not conducive to the recovery of the national economy, emerged. Therefore, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, ordered to reduce the weight and cast Han half liang to meet financial expenses.

The money minted in the early Western Han Dynasty still uses the Qin Dynasty name, called "half liang". However, because the square hole of the money was too large and the surrounding area resembled four pieces of elm pods, it was called "elm pod half liang" or "pod money" among the people at that time.

This kind of money is relatively standard, half a liang, and even half a liang of weight was reduced during the reign of Qin II, and the weight has been greatly reduced. Even so, the money minted by the court was still not enough. Therefore, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty allowed the people to mint their own money to tap the potential of the people and increase the money supply by using the power of the market.

The face value of pod money is relatively light, so it circulates smoothly. It is especially suitable for common people who are generally poor in special difficult times. However, due to the decentralization of coinage rights to private hands, there was no unified and strict management. As a result, the coins minted in various places had different shapes and no unified standards. In addition, the abuses of the previous dynasty still existed, and coins of various styles and weights were circulated in the market at the same time, making the people confused and the credibility of the currency was very poor.

There are also some people who make money from coinage, adulterate during the coinage process, secretly change the raw materials of coinage at will, reduce weight at will, and make large quantities of coins indiscriminately, which further aggravates the proliferation of bad money and aggravates the people's misunderstanding. Monetary distrust.

The imperial court's permission for private coinage was only an emergency measure. Although it could solve a temporary emergency, it would also encourage the private practice of coining coins and was not a long-term solution after all.

Sure enough, in 186 BC, the Han Dynasty court finally couldn't bear it anymore and had to take action to rectify the chaotic currency market.

In 186 BC, the Han Dynasty court decided to add weight to the currency to increase its value, and the court minted eight baht coins. Due to the war with South Vietnam and the Huns, military expenditures increased significantly, and the currency weight was re-implemented to 5 cents. The so-called 5 points is 1/5 of half a tael.

In the last years of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty and during the reign of Empress Lu, people were forbidden to mint money privately. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty recast the four-baht coin and abolished the law prohibiting piracy.

How to stabilize the currency and improve money laws was a very important economic issue faced by the court in the early Han Dynasty. This problem was finally solved properly after difficult exploration during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Hanbanliang