3 Cash - Zhizheng Tongbao

The Zhizheng Tongbao series was ordered by the last Yuan emperor, Toghon Temür, as part of a monetary reform effort launched in 1350 — a desperate attempt to stabilize an economy already collapsing under the weight of paper currency debasement and the catastrophic disruption of the Red Turban Rebellion. The reform failed almost immediately. Coin production was overtaken by events as rebel armies under Zhu Yuanzhang, who would eventually found the Ming dynasty, swept through the Yangtze valley.

The three-cash denomination sits at an awkward middle weight in the series, and surviving examples show considerable casting variation, suggesting decentralized or rushed production.