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1 Cash - Tianfu Yuanbao
| Issuer | Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 938-942 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Cash (621-1912) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central square perforation surrounded by a plain raised inner rim, with four Chinese characters in clerical script (lishu) arranged in the four quadrants reading clockwise: 天 (Tian, top), 寶 (Bao, right), 元 (Yuan, bottom), 福 (Fu, left), forming the legend Tianfu Yuanbao. The characters are cast in low relief against a flat, unadorned field, with no additional decorative elements. The outer rim is plain and slightly raised. The coin exhibits a patina of dark green and brown, consistent with age and burial. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain and entirely unadorned reverse, featuring only the raised square inner rim surrounding the central square perforation and a smooth outer rim. The field is flat with no inscriptions, symbols, or decorative elements, consistent with the uniface production standard of Five Dynasties period cast cash coins. The surface displays a mottled green patina with traces of reddish-brown bronze visible through the oxidation layer. |
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| Additional information |
The Tianfu Yuanbao was issued under the Later Jin dynasty, one of the five short-lived regimes that cycled through northern China between the fall of the Tang and the consolidation of the Song. Emperor Shi Jingtang founded the Later Jin in 936 only by ceding the strategically vital Sixteen Prefectures to the Khitan Liao — a territorial concession so damaging it poisoned Chinese politics for generations. This cash type falls squarely within that client-state period, struck while the dynasty depended on Khitan tolerance for its survival.