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10 Cash - Chongning Tongbao, iron
| Issuer | Northern Song Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1103-1105 |
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| Currency | Cash (621-1912) |
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| Obverse description | Round cast iron coin centered on a square perforation, surrounded by a raised square rim (inner rim) and an outer circular border. The four-character reign inscription 崇寧通寶 (Chong Ning Tong Bao) is arranged in the traditional top-bottom-right-left reading order around the central square hole, rendered in the elegant slender gold script (瘦金体) associated with Emperor Huizong's calligraphic style. The characters are bold in relief against a flat field, with fine calligraphic strokes characteristic of the Northern Song artistic tradition. The obverse surface exhibits heavy iron oxidation and encrustation consistent with prolonged burial. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain reverse featuring a central square perforation encircled by a raised square inner rim and a smooth outer border. The field is devoid of inscriptions or mint marks, displaying a heavily corroded and pitted iron surface with orange-brown and dark iron oxide patination typical of buried Song dynasty iron cash. A faint raised rim traces the circumference of the coin, and the surface shows extensive encrustation and iron degradation throughout. |
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| Additional information |
The Chongning reign period (1102–1106) sits awkwardly in Northern Song history — Emperor Huizong's court was dominated by the reformist Cai Jing, who aggressively revived Wang Anshi's New Policies, including expanded cash production to fund an increasingly strained imperial budget. Iron cash were issued alongside bronze partly to conserve copper, and partly because regional mints in cash-hungry northern circuits could operate on locally abundant iron ore without drawing on central copper reserves.
Huizong himself is credited with designing the Slender Gold script used on Chongning cash — a calligraphic style he developed personally. Whether imperial hands actually cut the dies remains debated.