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1 Cash - Zhidao Yuanbao, Tin imitation
| Issuer | Malay peninsula |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| 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 | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, running script) |
| Obverse lettering | 至 寶 道 元 (Translation: Zhidao (5th era of Taizong, 995-997) / Original currency) |
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| Additional information |
Tin "cash" imitations circulated widely across the Malay peninsula and Borneo as a practical substitute when genuine Chinese copper cash was scarce — which, for most small coastal trading settlements, was most of the time. These pieces were produced locally by merchants or minor chiefs rather than any central authority, filling a transactional gap that distant Chinese supply chains could not reliably close. Attribution to a specific issuer is essentially impossible; the Zhidao reign period reference places the prototype in Song dynasty China, circa 995–997 AD, but the imitations themselves could have been cast centuries later.