Category:Ancestor coins

Hanyu Pinyin: zǔ qián / diāo mǔ

Ancestor coins were a type of cash coin used early in the casting process as a model to produce Mother coins from. They were introduced around the year 1730 in the Manchu Qing dynasty to help make all cash coins more consistent, mint would first engrave an ancestor coin out of fine brass which would form the basis for mother coins, from a single ancestor thousands of mother coins could be cast.