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2 Cash - Qiandao Yuanbao, Seal script, with crescent and dot
| Issuer | Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1165-1173 |
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| Currency | Cash (621-1912) |
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| Obverse description | Central square perforation (cash hole) surrounded by a plain inner rim. The four-character reign title legend 乾道元寶 (Qiandao Yuanbao) is disposed in the four quadrants around the central square hole, rendered in elegant Seal script (zhuanshu) and read in a clockwise sequence — top, right, bottom, left. The characters are boldly cast in raised relief against a flat field. The design is framed by a plain raised outer rim. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain field centered on a square perforation, with a single upward-facing crescent mark positioned above the central hole and a single raised dot positioned below the central hole. These mint or denomination control marks are cast in raised relief. The reverse is otherwise completely blank, bounded by a plain raised outer rim. |
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| Additional information |
Qiandao was the reign era of Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song, a ruler who spent considerable political energy pursuing a reconquest of the north lost to the Jurchen Jin dynasty — an ambition that never materialized. The crescent and dot on this piece are foundational mint or furnace marks, used to distinguish production batches across multiple casting sites; their specific pairing on this type is what anchors the Hartill 17.090 attribution rather than the reign title alone.