The Songyuan Tongbao was the inaugural coinage of the Song dynasty, authorized by Taizu — the former military commander Zhao Kuangyin — following his seizure of power from the Later Zhou in 960. It was among the first acts of the new regime to assert administrative normalcy after the catastrophic fragmentation of the Five Dynasties period, during which no fewer than five dynasties and ten regional kingdoms had issued competing currencies within living memory. Hartill 16.1 is the earliest catalogued Song type, placing this issue at the very opening of a dynasty that would ultimately endure three centuries.
The Songyuan Tongbao was the inaugural coinage of the Song dynasty, authorized by Taizu — the former military commander Zhao Kuangyin — following his seizure of power from the Later Zhou in 960. It was among the first acts of the new regime to assert administrative normalcy after the catastrophic fragmentation of the Five Dynasties period, during which no fewer than five dynasties and ten regional kingdoms had issued competing currencies within living memory. Hartill 16.1 is the earliest catalogued Song type, placing this issue at the very opening of a dynasty that would ultimately endure three centuries.