Twelve Metal Colossi
The Twelve Metal Colossi were twelve metal statues cast after 221 BC by the order of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. After defeating the other six Warring States during Qin's wars of unification, Qin Shi Huang had their weapons collected and melted them down to be recast as bells and statues. Particularly noteworthy among them were twelve human statues, each said to have weighed a thousand dan.
Near the end of the Han dynasty, around 190 AD, Dong Zhuo melted down nine of the statues along with other metal items and recast them into coins to finance a personal castle in Mei County near Chang'an. All copper cash became devalued since the new coins did not weigh the same, had no defined edge, or stated value.
