During the period of immense northern offensives of Zhuge Liang, Wu was a state that tried to defend itself against the invading troops coming from the north. Following the Battle of Red Cliffs, Wei continuously pressured the lands around Hefei.

The battles were so severe that many people decided to leave the area and settle on the southern part of river Yangzi. When Zhuge Liang died, the assaults continued and though these assaults became more intense, Wei was not able to pass though the line of Yangzi River defenses constructed by Wu. It's worth mentioning that the defenses also featured the Ruxu fortress.

 The long period of Sun Quan's reign was considered to be the time of prosperity for the emperor's southern state. The number of workers in agriculture significantly increased due to continuous migrations from the north as well as because of Shanyue's settlement. The manpower for agriculture increased mainly along down the lower reaches of the Yangzi River. A great development was registered in the field of river transport, especially after Zhedong and Jiangnan canals were built.

This period saw a blossoming of trade with Shu, marking an enormous amount of imported Shu cotton as well as the growth of metal industries. There was also a great development in ocean transport, which allowed people to travel to the island of Taiwan and perform sea trips to Manchuria. Chinese merchants managed to travel to Linyi, which is today known as southern Vietnam, and Fu'nan, today known as Cambodia. Along with the development of economy in the region, arts and culture developed as well.

During this period a number of coins were struck, including Da Quan Wu Bai, also known as "Big Coin 500", the striking of which started presumably in 236 AD. For the first time this coin was issued during the reign of Emperor Da, Sun Quan, whose temple name was Wu Taizu. His reign lasted from 200 AD and till 252. Though admitted, the territory of Wu was not considered to be independent, thus Wu was not an independent state. The territory was controlled by the Sun family since mid 190s, the time when the brother of Sun Quan, by the name Sun Ce, gained the forces of his father Sun Jian along with a number of allies from the period when Jian was general during the reign of the Han Dynasty, and later under Yuan Shu.

A battle between the troops gathered by Ce and Yuan Shu started. The former hoped to gain its own sphere of influence. After his death in 200 AD, Quan took over the reign of the region. Firstly Quan complied with the requests of Cao Pi for acknowledgement of authority. He was given the title King of Wu prior to the moment when he turned against Pi and settled his own claim for empire's control. In 222 AD Quan was given the title of Emperor Da of Wu.

According to a few historical records, coins issued during this period were still in circulation during the Jin Dynasty, which reunited the empire in 280 AD, the time when Shu-Han were taken over of Wei and Wei along with Wu were taken over by Jin.

This ancient Chinese coin features a popular characteristic of most coins issued during the Wu dynasty, that is the majority of these coins were minted from almost pure copper and copper corrodes. Presumably two mints activated during this period, one was located in Hubei and the second was in Nanking. Coins struck in Hubei mint were of poor quality, featuring unclear characters and this particular coin was issued by this mint.

Another coin struck during the period of Wu is Da Quan Dang Qian, also known as "Big Coin 1000". For the fist time it was issued presumably in 238 AD, which is two years past the Da Quan Wu Bai. Several ancient Chinese coins of this type were struck in different sizes. This particular coin is one of the small sized coins. It was used as a common size currency.

Due to the fact that Sun Quan fought against counterfeiting, he ordered everyone to hand over all copper goods and receive new currency. This Da Quan Dang Qian is well minted and it shows no signs of corrosion. A number of coins struck during the time of Wu were made from a brass alloy, which does not suffer from corrosion like coins made of pure copper.