Fractional cash - Zhiyuan Tongbao, 'Phags-pa script, temple coin

Zhiyuan Tongbao fractional cash were issued under Kublai Khan as part of a broader monetary policy that increasingly favored paper currency — the jiaochao — over metal coinage. These small bronzes occupied an awkward position in that system, tolerated rather than promoted. The 'Phags-pa script used here was commissioned by Kublai directly from the Tibetan monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa in 1269, intended as a universal script across the multilingual empire. It never achieved that ambition.

The "temple coin" designation reflects probable use as ritual or votive objects rather than everyday exchange — consistent with the surviving population, which shows minimal wear.