Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 Cash - Kaiyuan Tongbao, Tin imitation
| Issuer | Maritime Southeast Asia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1700-1800 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | 28.1 mm |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
| Obverse lettering | 開 通 寶 元 (Translation: Inaugural currency) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Kaiyuan Tongbao prototype dates to Tang Dynasty China, first cast in 621 AD, and its design circulated so persistently across maritime trade networks that local tin copies were still being produced in Southeast Asia nearly eleven centuries later. These imitations were not forgeries in any meaningful legal sense — there was no single authority to defraud. They filled genuine small-denomination gaps in port economies where Chinese cash coins were trusted currency but chronically undersupplied.
Tin was the obvious material choice across the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, where it was mined in abundance. The weight and alloy vary considerably across examples, reflecting purely local production with no standardizing mint behind them.