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1 Cash - Qianyuan Zhongbao, bronze
| Issuer | Ma Chu Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 925-927 |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Cast bronze cash coin featuring four Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu) arranged in cruciform reading order: top, bottom, right, left around a central square perforation. The legend reads 乾元重寶 (Qianyuan Zhongbao), meaning 'Heavy Currency of the Qianyuan Era.' The characters are boldly raised within the inner field, bounded by a raised inner rim encircling the square hole and a raised outer rim at the coin's periphery. The surfaces display typical casting texture consistent with Five Dynasties period provincial mint production. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
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| Additional information |
Ma Chu was one of the Ten Kingdoms that fragmented China after the collapse of the Tang dynasty, controlling the Hunan region under the Ma family from 907 until 951. The Qianyuan Zhongbao issue dates to the reign of Ma Yin's successor Ma Xisheng, whose rule lasted barely two years before his own brother Ma Xicheng seized power in 927. The political instability of the Ma Chu succession — five rulers in roughly a decade — makes precise attribution of individual cash issues to specific reigns genuinely difficult, and Hartill's numbering reflects ongoing scholarly uncertainty about the sequence.