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10 Cash - Tiance Fubao, iron
| Issuer | Ma Chu Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 911 |
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| Currency | Cash (911-930) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Cast iron cash coin of the Ma Chu Kingdom, featuring a central square perforation surrounded by a raised square inner rim. Four Chinese characters in regular script (kaishu) are arranged in cruciform fashion around the central hole, reading top-to-bottom and right-to-left as Tian Ce Fu Bao (天策府寶), denoting the reign title and treasury of the Tiance Generalship. The characters are boldly rendered in raised relief against a flat, unadorned field. The coin is encircled by a plain raised outer rim, with no additional decorative motifs in the field. The surface exhibits characteristic iron oxidation consistent with age. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 天 策 寶 府 |
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| Additional information |
The Tiance Fubao series was issued under Ma Yin, the warlord who controlled Hunan during the chaotic fragmentation following the Tang collapse. Ma Yin had declared himself King of Chu in 907 — the same year the Tang dynasty formally ended — and coin production served as much as a declaration of independent authority as a practical monetary instrument. Iron coinage of this type circulated primarily within the Chu sphere, where copper was scarce and carefully hoarded.
Iron cash from this kingdom survive in variable condition; the metal corrodes aggressively, and fully legible examples are genuinely uncommon.