Jingkang was not a reign intended to last. The era name covers just fourteen months — the final two years of Emperor Qinzong's rule before the Jurchen Jin forces captured Kaifeng in 1127, dragging both the emperor and his father Huizong into captivity in the north. Cash coinage in iron rather than bronze was already a Northern Song expedient for conserving copper in wartime, which makes the material here less a choice than a symptom. Hartill 16.518 is among the rarest Song reign issues by sheer duration of production.
Jingkang was not a reign intended to last. The era name covers just fourteen months — the final two years of Emperor Qinzong's rule before the Jurchen Jin forces captured Kaifeng in 1127, dragging both the emperor and his father Huizong into captivity in the north. Cash coinage in iron rather than bronze was already a Northern Song expedient for conserving copper in wartime, which makes the material here less a choice than a symptom. Hartill 16.518 is among the rarest Song reign issues by sheer duration of production.