The uses of cash coins in TCM vary as they can be ingested, applied to wounds, used as a powder, rubbed against the body to treat supposed "hot" diseases, and made into medicinal teas.

A Nature editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that the most obvious reason why it has not delivered many cures is that the majority of its treatments have no logical mechanism of action.

The cash coin became the main standard currency of China in 221 BC with the Ban Liang (半兩) and would be produced until 1912 AD there with the Minguo Tongbao (民國通寳).

Cash coins are characterised by their round outer shape and a square center hole (Chinese: 方穿; pinyin: fāng chuān; Jyutping: fong1 cyun1; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hong-chhoan).

The trend of exclusively using the era names on currencies continued during the Qing dynasty, and all cash coins issued during this period were written in regular script.

[15] According to a number of ancient books on traditional Chinese medicine, such as the Ming dynasty period authoritative work the Compendium of Materia Medica the usage of old Chinese cash coins made of a variety of copper-alloys could be used in a variety of medicines, such as those to treat abdominal pain, menstruation, heart and stomach pain, insect bites, bladder diseases, bleeding, corneal opacity, ulcers, fever, birth complications, among other ailments.

[23] The Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) is generally favoured among practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, during the Ming dynasty it was considered to be well known that the patina (銅綠 / 铜绿) on these cash coins would kill pathogens.

[16][24] Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins are additionally used as a measuring tool for taking excessive amounts of traditional Chinese medicine powder.

[25] During the Southern Song dynasty period, the physician Yang Shiying (杨士瀛), wrote in his work the Straightforward Guide to Recipes and Discourses of [Yang] Renzhai (仁齋直指方論) that simply using ordinary Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins wasn't enough, rather he recommended using an "imperial concubine" Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coin that had two "moons" (crescent marks) on the reverse side.

[b] [26][16] Yang Shiying stated a medical practitioner should place the special Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coin on the hot charcoals of a fire.

[16][27] The Ming dynasty period acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer Li Shizhen personally favoured using the Kaiyuan Tongbao for medicinal uses.

[16] The Autumn Lantern Series Talks further claims that the people of Xiaogan, Hunan suffered from illnesses during the beginning of the Shunzhi reign era and that they benefited from having a number of Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins to cure them.

[29] Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins were also used in regional medicines, for example a popular traditional prescription in the Shaanxi province during the Qing dynasty period claimed that to remove something referred to as "dead muscle" (死肌, Sǐ jī) stated that physician should combine 2 Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins with 2 walnut kernels, and 1 or 2 pieces of sparrow feces, then they should boil the mixture a total of 7 times, quench the mixture a total of 7 times using vinegar and to then apply this concoction to the place of the "dead muscle" externally to supposedly remove it.

[30][16] The Qing dynasty period Chinese physician Zhao Xuemin (趙學敏) wrote the Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica (本草綱目拾遺, Běncǎo gāngmù shíyí), which expanded on the earlier work by Li Shizhen.

[31] According to the Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica, the Kaiyuan Tongbao could be used as a cure against a large number of diseases and was used for internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, etc.

[16] The book describes a pathology referred to "forbidden mouth dysentery" (禁口痢, Jìn kǒu lì) which caused people to throw up after consuming certain types of foods, Zhao Xuemin claimed that heating up the Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coin until it became read, then quenching it with vinegar, grinding it into a powder, and then mixing it with porridge to cure this ailment.

During the Qing dynasty period it was believed that Wanli Tongbao (萬曆通寳) cash coin amulets with dragon and fenghuang reverse sides should be given to a woman in labour to prevent dystocia.

[41] This usage of cash coins has been documented as early as the Eastern Jin dynasty, in China's first emergency medicine manual, Zhou hou fang (肘後方).

[41] Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine believe that the zinc present in cash coins, which had been leached into the slightly acidic liquid, are said to supposedly promote both healing and the enhancement of the immune system.

[47] Chinese herbalists often imported cash coins from China and Vietnam (through Guangdong) for low prices, as they were typically annually produced in the billions, for medicinal and talismanic purposes.