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Fractional cash - Zhiyuan Qi Nian, temple coin
| Issuer | Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1341 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
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| Reverse description | Plain uniface reverse, entirely blank save for the central square hole bordered by a raised inner rim and a raised outer rim at the coin's periphery. The surface shows no inscriptions, symbols, or decorative elements, which is characteristic of this posthumous temple issue of the Yuan dynasty. |
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| Additional information |
Issued in the seventh year of the Zhiyuan period under the Mongol Yuan dynasty, this piece belongs to a cash series introduced partly to reassert copper coinage alongside the paper currency system that had been the Yuan's dominant monetary instrument. The dynasty's heavy reliance on paper money — and its chronic overissuance — had badly eroded public confidence by the 1340s, and fractional cash issues of this period circulated within a system already under serious strain.
The "temple coin" attribution in Hartill reflects uncertainty about whether pieces of this type saw genuine commercial circulation or were cast primarily for ritual distribution.