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1 Cash - Qianyuan Zhongbao, with crescent and dot
| Issuer | Tang Dynasty Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 759-762 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Cast |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, clerical script) |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Danzhou, modern-day Yichuan County, Shaanxi, China Ezhou, modern-day Wuhan, Hubei, China Fuzhou, Fujian, China Guangzhou, Guangdong, China Guiyang Inspectorate, modern-day Guiyang County, Hunan, China Guizhou, modern-day Guilin, Guangxi, China Hongzhou, modern-day Nanchang, Jiangxi, China Jingzhao, modern-day Xi'an, Shaanxi, China Jingzhou, Hubei, China Lantian, modern-day Lantian County, Shaanxi, China Liangzhou, modern-day Nanzheng District, Shaanxi, China Luozhou, modern-day Luoyang, Henan, China Pingzhou, modern-day Lulong County, Hebei, China Runzhou, modern-day Dantu District, Jiangsu, China Tanzhou, modern-day Changsha, Hunan, China Xiangzhou, modern-day Xianfeng County, Hubei, China Xingzhou, modern-day Lueyang County, Shaanxi, China Xuanzhou, modern-day Xuancheng, Anhui, China Yanzhou, modern-day Yanzhou District, Shandong, China Yizhou, modern-day Chengdu, Sichuan, China Yongzhou, modern-day Lingling District, Hunan, China Yuezhou, modern-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China Zizhou, modern-day Santai County, Sichuan, China |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Qianyuan Zhongbao was introduced in 758 as part of a desperate fiscal response to the An Lushan Rebellion, the catastrophic civil war that nearly destroyed the Tang dynasty entirely. The court, having fled Chang'an twice, debased and multiplied coinage denominations to fund military campaigns — Zhongbao nominally valued at ten ordinary cash, an inflation measure that triggered widespread counterfeiting and commodity hoarding.
The crescent and dot combination on this piece is a mint or furnace mark; Hartill 14.120 places it among the more precisely attributed varieties in an otherwise chaotic emission series produced across multiple provincial furnaces simultaneously.