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1 Cash - Xiangfu Yuanbao, Zinc imitation
| Issuer | Malay peninsula |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Central square hole surrounded by four Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu), arranged in cruciform fashion and read clockwise from the top: 祥 (xiāng), 符 (fú), 元 (yuán), 寶 (bǎo), forming the reign-era inscription 'Xiangfu Yuanbao'. The characters are rendered in bold relief against a flat field, with no inner or outer rim decoration visible. The coin surface shows the characteristic patination of a zinc-alloy casting, with areas of reddish undertone where the metal is exposed. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 祥符元寶 |
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| Additional information |
These zinc imitations of the Northern Song Xiangfu Yuanbao cash circulated across the Malay peninsula and Indonesian archipelago as trade tokens, filling a chronic small-denomination void that neither Dutch colonial authorities nor local Malay states adequately addressed. The originals were cast in China during the Xiangfu reign period (1008–1016), but the imitations — struck or cast locally over subsequent centuries — bear no allegiance to that date.
Zinc distinguishes them immediately from Chinese prototypes, which were cast in bronze.