The Chunxi reign period (1174–1189) saw the Southern Song treasury under sustained pressure from tribute payments owed to the Jurchen Jin dynasty under the terms of the 1165 Treaty of Longxing — an arrangement that drained silver and silk northward and pushed the court toward aggressive copper cash production to manage domestic liquidity. Two-cash pieces were part of a deliberate policy of token coinage, each piece intended to circulate at twice face value against its metal content.
Hartill 17.166 distinguishes this seal-script variety from the running-script issues of the same reign, the two styles struck concurrently across multiple furnaces.
The Chunxi reign period (1174–1189) saw the Southern Song treasury under sustained pressure from tribute payments owed to the Jurchen Jin dynasty under the terms of the 1165 Treaty of Longxing — an arrangement that drained silver and silk northward and pushed the court toward aggressive copper cash production to manage domestic liquidity. Two-cash pieces were part of a deliberate policy of token coinage, each piece intended to circulate at twice face value against its metal content.
Hartill 17.166 distinguishes this seal-script variety from the running-script issues of the same reign, the two styles struck concurrently across multiple furnaces.