1 Cash Pattern, Minguo Tongbao, iron

Obverse description	Traditional cash coin format featuring four Chinese characters arranged in cruciform reading order — top, bottom, right, left — around a central square hole. The legend 民國通寶 (Minguo Tongbao, meaning 'Republic Currency') is rendered in regular script (kaishu). The field is plain and unadorned, preserving the classical aesthetic of imperial Chinese cash coinage within a republican context.
Obverse script	Log in to see details
Obverse lettering	Log in to see details
Reverse description	Log in to see details
Reverse script	Log in to see details
Reverse lettering	文一 (Translation: Yi Wen 1 Cash (Wen))
Edge	Log in to see details
Mint	Log in to see details
Mintage	Log in to see details
Additional information	The Republic of China's first provisional government under Sun Yat-sen lasted barely six weeks before Yuan Shikai assumed the presidency in March 1912. This iron pattern was among several experimental cash-format pieces struck during that chaotic transitional window, when the new government was simultaneously abolishing imperial coinage conventions and trying to establish a republican monetary identity — without yet having the infrastructure to do either cleanly. Iron was a practical test medium, cheap and available, not intended for circulation. KM#Pn4 is one of a small group of 1912 cash patterns in various metals. Survivors in any condition are rare; most were never meant to leave the mint.