2 Cash - Zhizheng Tongbao

The Zhizheng Tongbao series was issued under Emperor Huizong's distant successor Toghon Temür, the last Yuan emperor, during a period of catastrophic dynastic collapse. Massive flooding of the Yellow River in 1344 displaced hundreds of thousands and triggered the rebel movements — Red Turbans chief among them — that would ultimately drive the Mongols from China entirely. Copper cash continued to be struck even as Ming forces closed in on Dadu.

The two-cash denomination of this series is distinguished by a reverse inscription denoting value, an unusual feature for Song and Yuan-era cash that reflects the monetary disorder of the period.