3 Cash - Jiading Zhibao, type 2, Li Zhou, iron

Jiading Zhibao coinage was issued under Emperor Ningzong of the Southern Song dynasty, whose reign saw relentless military and fiscal pressure from the Jurchen Jin dynasty to the north. Iron cash — always a sign of monetary stress — proliferated during this period as copper grew scarce and the government struggled to fund frontier defense. Li Zhou, the mint responsible for this piece, was located in present-day Sichuan, a province that maintained its own semi-autonomous monetary circulation and issued iron cash long after coastal mints had returned to copper.

The type 2 designation distinguishes specific calligraphic or casting variants catalogued by Hartill; collectors working this series should cross-reference FD#1444 and Schjoth#940, as attribution boundaries between type variants occasionally differ between these references.