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3 Cash - Qingyuan Tongbao
| Issuer | Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1197-1200 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 3 Cash |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central square hole (穿) surrounded by a plain inner rim and a raised outer rim. Four Chinese ideograms in regular script (楷書) are arranged in the traditional cross-reading order: 慶 (top), 元 (right), 通 (bottom), 寶 (left), collectively reading 慶元通寶 (Qingyuan Tongbao). The characters are bold and well-formed, occupying the four quadrants of the broad, flat field between the inner and outer rims. No additional decorative elements are present. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | 3 (1197) - Hartill#17.444: Year 三 (San) - 4 (1198) - Hartill#17.445: Year 四 (Si) - 5 (1199) - Hartill#17.446: Year 五 (Wu) - 6 (1200) - Hartill#17.447: Year 六 (Liu) - |
| Additional information |
The Qingyuan reign period (1195–1200) fell under Emperor Guangzong's son, Emperor Ningzong of the Southern Song — a dynasty already compressed into southern China following the Jurchen Jin conquest of the north in 1127. Chronic copper shortages throughout the Southern Song forced repeated experiments with iron cash as substitutes, making bronze multiples like this 3-cash piece administratively significant as the dynasty tried to maintain a functioning bimetallic economy under persistent military and fiscal strain.