300 Cash Huo Bu, iron

You Zhou, centered on modern Beijing, operated as a de facto independent warlord state during the collapse of the Tang dynasty. Its ruler Liu Shouguang declared himself emperor of a short-lived kingdom called Yan in 911, only to be crushed by the Later Liang in 914. These iron cash were struck precisely because copper was too strategically valuable — hoarded, melted, or monopolized by competing powers — forcing peripheral regimes to cast in iron despite its poor durability and rapid corrosion in circulation.

Hartill 15.170 is among the scarcer you zhou iron issues to survive in attributable condition for exactly that reason.