10 Cash - Chongning Tongbao, privately cast

The Chongning Tongbao series was issued under Emperor Huizong, whose reign is better remembered for artistic patronage and catastrophic military failure than for its coinage administration. Private casting was endemic during the Northern Song precisely because official mint output was chronically insufficient relative to demand — the state operated dozens of mints yet still could not keep pace with a monetized economy of this scale. Privately cast pieces vary considerably in fabric and module, which is what makes attribution to a specific reference like Hartill 16.402 meaningful rather than routine.