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1 Cash Kaiyuan Tongbao, Xing
| Issuer | Uncertain Chinese kingdoms |
|---|---|
| Year | 917-971 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Cash (907-971) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Cast round coin with a central square hole, bearing four Chinese ideograms in clerical script arranged in cruciform fashion around the central perforation, read top to bottom and right to left. The legend 開元通寶 (Kaiyuan Tongbao) occupies the four cardinal positions of the field. The characters are rendered in low relief on a flat, unadorned field, with no inner or outer rim decoration beyond the plain raised borders typical of Tang-style cash coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 開 寶 通 元 (Translation: Kaiyuan Tongbao Inaugural currency) |
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| Additional information |
The Kaiyuan Tongbao design, originally introduced under Tang emperor Xuanzong in 621 AD, was so deeply embedded in Chinese monetary culture that it continued to be copied, adapted, and debased by successor states long after the dynasty collapsed in 907. This lead example, attributed to one of the fragmented kingdoms operating during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, reflects the monetary desperation of regional powers that lacked the copper resources — or the political authority — to strike credible bronze issues. Lead coinage circulated in these peripheral economies as a practical stopgap, though it was universally distrusted.
The Xing mint designation narrows the attribution but does not resolve it definitively. Hartill 15.121 places this type among issues of uncertain kingdoms, a classification that has not substantially changed since.