1 Cash - Chongzhen Tongbao, southern type, Xin

The Chongzhen period (1628–1644) was the final reign of the Ming dynasty, and the Board of Revenue mint was producing cash coins under increasingly desperate fiscal conditions as the dynasty collapsed under simultaneous pressure from Li Zicheng's rebel forces in the north and the Manchu advance. The "Xin" board designation reflects an administrative subdivision of the mint — a cataloguing detail that becomes historically poignant given the mint ceased operation entirely when Beijing fell in 1644.

Southern-type pieces were struck at mints operating below the Yangtze corridor and tend to show slightly different fabric from their northern counterparts. Hartill 20.312 is among the more precisely attributed varieties in a reign notorious for producing dozens of overlapping regional types.