1 Cash - Tangguo Tongbao, Clerical script

The Southern Tang issued the Tangguo Tongbao during the final, desperate years of the kingdom under Li Yu, the last ruler, as Song forces under Zhao Kuangyin systematically dismantled what remained of the Five Dynasties period's southern states. Li Yu — better remembered by history as a poet than a ruler — was forced to adopt the reign title "Tangguo" in 961 after Song pressure compelled him to renounce the imperial title entirely, making this coin a direct artifact of political capitulation. The clerical script variety is catalogued separately from the running script issue, and die workmanship varies considerably across surviving examples.