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1 Cash - Yuanfu Tongbao, Running script, iron
| Issuer | Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1098-1100 |
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| Currency | Cash (621-1912) |
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| Obverse description | Central square perforation (cash hole) surrounded by a plain inner rim and an outer rim with irregular cast edges. Four Chinese ideograms in running script (xingshu) are arranged in cruciform fashion around the central aperture, reading clockwise from the top: 元 (Yuán), 符 (Fú), 通 (Tōng), 寶 (Bǎo), together forming the reign-era inscription 'Yuanfu Tongbao.' The characters are rendered in a fluid, cursive calligraphic style characteristic of Northern Song iron cash, cast in relatively low relief against a plain field. The overall surface exhibits the rough, granular texture typical of cast iron coinage of the period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 元 寶 符 通 (Translation: Yuan Fu Tong Bao Yuanfu (3rd era of Zhezong, 1098-1100) / Universal currency) |
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| Additional information |
Yuanfu was the final reign period of Emperor Zhezong of Song, who died in 1100 at around twenty-three years old after a reign marked by bitter factional conflict between reformers and conservatives at court. The iron cash issues of this period reflect a chronic copper shortage that forced the Song treasury to authorize iron coinage across large parts of northern and northwestern China, particularly in Shaanxi and Hedong circuits where copper supply was most constrained.
The running-script variety catalogued by Hartill as 16.344 is among the more precisely attributable of the Yuanfu issues, distinguishing it from the regular and seal-script versions struck concurrently.