1 Cash - Xuande Tongbao

The Xuande Tongbao was produced under the Xuande Emperor's direct intervention in monetary policy — an unusual personal engagement for a Ming ruler. By the 1430s, the dynasty's paper currency, the Da Ming Baochao, had collapsed in practical terms through decades of over-issue, and the court reluctantly sanctioned renewed copper cash production after a long hiatus. The Board of Revenue casting at Beijing was explicitly authorized rather than delegated to provincial furnaces, a distinction that matters for attributing pieces to this type.

Brass composition rather than bronze distinguishes Xuande-era cash from earlier Ming issues — a deliberate metallurgical shift reflecting changing resource access in the Yongle and Xuande periods.