1 Cash - Huangsong Tongbao, Seal script, iron

Huangsong Tongbao was issued during the reign of Emperor Renzong, one of the longest-reigning Song emperors at over four decades on the throne. The Huangsong era name itself ran only from 1049 to 1054, though some iron cash of this type were struck slightly earlier under transitional mint arrangements. Iron coinage in the Song period was not a mark of economic failure but rather a deliberate regional policy — iron cash circulated primarily in frontier zones like Shaanxi and Sichuan, where copper was strategically restricted to prevent metal from crossing into Liao or Xi Xia territory.

Iron coins of this period corrode aggressively, and survivors with legible surfaces are genuinely scarce despite once-substantial mintages.