100 Cash - Tiande Tongbao, iron

The Min Kingdom, one of the Ten Kingdoms of the Five Dynasties period, issued this piece under Wang Shenzhi's successors during a reign so unstable that Fuzhou changed hands repeatedly before Min's final collapse in 944 — the very year this coin was produced. Iron coinage was not a choice born of preference; copper shortages and the economic isolation of Fujian province forced Min rulers to cast in iron throughout much of the kingdom's existence. Hartill 15.58 is among the final issues before the Southern Tang absorbed Min entirely.