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1 Cash - Chongning Tongbao
| Issuer | Northern Song Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1102-1106 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round with a square hole |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, slender gold script) |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain reverse field with a central square perforation, enclosed by a raised inner rim and a concentric raised outer rim. The reverse is entirely uninscribed, with a smooth, flat field between the two rims. This unadorned reverse is characteristic of standard Northern Song Dynasty cast cash coinage of the period. |
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| Additional information |
The Chongning Tongbao was issued during the reign of Emperor Huizong, whose administration is better remembered for catastrophic fiscal overextension than for the coins themselves. Huizong authorized an aggressive expansion of the money supply, producing cash in multiple denominations and calligraphic scripts simultaneously — a policy that contributed directly to the inflationary pressures preceding the Jin dynasty's invasion and the eventual fall of the Northern Song in 1127.
Huizong was himself a celebrated calligrapher, and the Chongning series includes examples written in his distinctive slender gold script, making this one of the few Chinese coin series where the emperor's personal hand is plausibly present in the design.