Eastern Han, 146 - 190 AD
AE Five Zhu "Zaoqian", 19mm, 1.11 grams
Obverse: WU ZHU.
Reverse: Blank, as made.
Hartill10.28 // G&F B4.343

From the end of the Eastern Han the interesting practice of cutting one coin into two rose to prominence. A single Wu Zhu would be meticulously cut from the middle creating two coins: one inner and one outer. These are called "Zhao Qian (chisel cut)". This was most likely due to a shortage of coinage.