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100 Cash - Deyi Yuanbao, with crescent
| Issuer | Great Yan State |
|---|---|
| Year | 758-759 |
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| Shape | Round with a square hole |
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| Obverse description | Cast bronze cash coin featuring four Chinese ideograms arranged in clerical script (lishu), reading clockwise in the traditional cross pattern around a central square hole: 得 (De), 壹 (Yi), 元 (Yuan), 寶 (Bao). The characters are rendered in bold, well-defined relief against a flat field, with a raised outer rim encircling the legend. The square perforation is neatly formed with straight inner walls, characteristic of Tang-era rebel state coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain reverse field with a raised outer rim and a central square hole, exhibiting the flat, unadorned surface typical of Tang-period cast cash coinage. Depending on the variety, one or more crescent-shaped marks appear at various positions relative to the square hole — above, below, to the left, to the right, or in all four positions — serving as mint or batch control marks. The reverse visible in the image shows a single crescent mark above the square hole. |
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| Additional information |
The Great Yan State was the rebel polity proclaimed by An Lushan during the An-Shi Rebellion, the catastrophic civil war that nearly destroyed the Tang dynasty and killed an estimated 13 to 36 million people — one of the deadliest conflicts in premodern history. An Lushan was murdered by his own son An Qingxu in early 759, and the Deyi Yuanbao issues span that violent dynastic transition. The crescent countermark on this type is not fully explained in the literature, but is generally associated with a specific mint or emission within the series.