Cash is a name for several historical

currencies A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

used in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. It is applied to units used in China,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, and of Madras and Princely state of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. It is also occasionally used to refer to the

Korean mun The ''mun'' (Hanja: ) was introduced as the main currency of Korea in 1625 and stayed in use until 1892. Prior to the ''mun'', cash coins with the inscriptions ''tongbo'' (通寶) and ''jungbo'' (重寶) and silver vases called ''ŭnbyŏng'' ...

and the Japanese mon.

Etymology

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

kācu/kāsu, Skr. ''karsha'' 'a weight of silver or gold equal to of a tulā' (Williams). The early

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

writers represented the native word by ''cas, casse, caxa,'' the Fr. by ''cas'', the Eng. by ''cass'': the existing Pg. ''caixa'' and Eng. cash are due to a natural confusion with CASH n.1. From an early date the Portuguese applied ''caixa'' (probably on the same analogy) to the small money of other foreign nations, such as that of

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...

, and especially the Chinese, which was also naturally made into cash in English. (Yule)" The English word "

cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-im ...

," meaning "tangible currency," is an older word from

Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from ...

''caisse''.

Chinese cash

In China, ''cash'' - not to be confused with the type of copper coin - refers to a unit used for centuries for copper coinage and banknote equivalents known as ''wén'' (文). Being the first country to implement paper based currency, in 1023 the 交子 paper money currency occur to adapt the economical climate change of globalization brought by fair trade via silk road, although metal coins were still in circulation. After the introduction of a unified currency system in 1889, cash continued to be used as a subunit of the yuan with 1000 cash being equal to one yuan. Coins continued to be denominated in cash until the 1920s nationally and for a time thereafter regionally.

Vietnamese cash

Cash (''văn'') was a currency unit for copper coinage in Vietnam until the introduction of the French Indochina piastre in 1885 when it became a sub unit of the piastre usually known as a ''sapèque''.

Madras cash

Cash was a currency unit of

Madras Province The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

during the period of

British rule in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. Specifically, it was a subunit of the fanam, rupee, and

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

. *80 cash = 1 fanam *12 fanams = 1 rupee *42 fanams = 1 pagoda Copper coins of 20 cash were called pice, 10 cash were called dodees, and 5 cash were called half dodees.

Travancore cash

Travancore cash was similar to the Madras cash yet differed in the value compared to the rupee. *16 cash = 1 chakram *4 chakram = 1 fanam *7 fanam = 1 rupee thus, 1 rupee = 448 cash.

Notes