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1 Cash - Yuanfeng Tongbao, Running script
| Issuer | Northern Song Dynasty Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1078-1085 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Cast |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, running script) |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain reverse, entirely blank and uninscribed, bearing only the raised square rim surrounding the central square perforation and the raised outer rim at the coin's edge. The reverse field is flat and featureless, consistent with the uniface casting practice standard for Northern Song Dynasty cash coinage. The surface displays a heavily patinated brown-bronze tone with scattered mineral deposits and areas of green cuprite corrosion, indicative of extended burial. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Yuanfeng was the reign era of Emperor Shenzong, a ruler defined by his alliance with reformer Wang Anshi and the bitter factional struggle over the New Policies — a sweeping fiscal and administrative program that reorganized taxation, local militia, and state loans. The cash coinage of this era was produced in enormous volume to fund those reforms, with multiple regional furnaces operating simultaneously across the empire.
The running script variety is the rarer of the standard Yuanfeng issues compared to the seal script casting, though both types circulated together. Hartill notes distinct calligraphic variation across known examples, reflecting different regional mint hands rather than a single authoritative die source.