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!
3 Cash - Daguan Tongbao
| Issuer | Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1107-1110 |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 1.4 mm |
| 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 | Central square hole (穿) surrounded by a plain inner rim. Four Chinese ideograms arranged in cruciform reading order — top, bottom, right, left — forming the reign title and denomination legend 大觀通寶 (Da Guan Tong Bao), rendered in the elegant Slender Gold (瘦金體) calligraphic script attributed to Emperor Huizong. The characters occupy the four quadrants of the coin field between the central perforation and the raised outer rim. The overall casting is well-defined, with the stylized, attenuated brushstroke forms of the Slender Gold script clearly distinguished from standard Song dynasty script types. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain reverse with a central square perforation (穿) bordered by a raised inner rim, with a broad, flat, unadorned field extending to the raised outer rim. No inscriptions, symbols, or mint marks are present. The reverse surface shows the characteristic texture of Song dynasty cast bronze coinage. |
| 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 |
Daguan Tongbao coinage was issued under Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song dynasty, a ruler better remembered as one of China's most accomplished painters and calligraphers than as an effective administrator. The Daguan reign period lasted only four years, and the cash coins produced during it are notable for bearing inscriptions in Huizong's own "slender gold" script — a distinctive style he developed personally, with attenuated strokes unlike any other imperial coinage.
The 3-cash denomination placed this piece above everyday circulation coinage, issued as part of a multi-denomination series during a period of significant monetary expansion under the Northern Song. Huizong's court would fall to the Jurchen Jin dynasty within two decades of this coin's striking, and Huizong himself died in captivity in 1135.