2 Cash - Qingyuan Tongbao, Tong, iron

The Qingyuan reign period (1195–1201) falls under Emperor Guangzong's successor, Ningzong, whose court was dominated by the chancellor Han Tuozhou — a figure whose aggressive anti-Jin foreign policy would eventually culminate in the disastrous Kaixi War of 1206. Iron cash production during this period was driven by chronic copper shortages in the Southern Song, which had lost access to northern mining regions after the Jin conquest. Iron coins circulated primarily in interior regions where copper was simply unavailable, and they corroded badly in humid southern climates, which partly explains why well-preserved survivors are scarcer than their mintage volumes would suggest.