1 Cash - Chunxi Yuanbao, Regular script, Chun, iron

Chunxi Yuanbao iron cash were produced under Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song, a reign notable for genuine administrative competence amid sustained military pressure from the Jurchen Jin dynasty to the north. Iron coinage at this period was not a sign of emergency — the Southern Song ran parallel bronze and iron currency systems deliberately, with iron cash assigned to specific regional circuits to limit bullion drain and control cross-border metal flows. The Chun mint mark here identifies the Taozhou or associated Chunzhou facilities operating under that circuit assignment.

Hartill 17.202 is among the more routinely encountered Southern Song iron types, but survival in collectible condition is another matter — iron cash corrode aggressively, and most excavated examples are structurally compromised.