The Great Khan

Pre-Yuan Mongol Dynasty.

Da Chao Tong Bao 大朝通寶。Silver. Reverse 2 chop marks of Sino-Kharosthi and Arabic origin. Hartill 19.1. Rating 1.

The Da Chao or Grand Dynasty was a name used by the Mongols prior to the establishment of the Yuan after the conquest of China. This coin was alleged to be minted either by Genghis Khan himself or by Kublai Khan before issuing the first official Zhi Yuan coins during the Yuan Dynasty.

Conventional Chinese numismatic sources attribute this coin to Genghis KHAN himself as it was him who referred to his khanate as the Grand Dynasty. It was also in tribute to his role model the founder of the Liao Dynasty Yelu Abaoji whom was widely revered by the Northern tribes as a sort of divine hero. Whilst Abaoji referred to his reign as 天朝 or Heavenly Dynasty, Genghis Khan removed the top stroke into 大 as a form of respect.

 

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Interesting! I have a few Tang dynasty coins that I somehow acquired. Perhaps you could give me a proper ID.

 

Sure.. I can try

 

Pictures are forthcoming in a few.
As for your coin, what could it buy at the time?

 

It is not a widely circulated coin. Some reckon it could be a court coin issued as a reward by the Great Khan or for religious offerings such as an inauguration of a temple. Moreover it is silver which was regarded as a high value metal of the time.

 

I love this series, though I've never owned one.

I was at the ANA summer show a few years ago, at Album's table. Joe had a box of coins from a collection he purchased a few hours earlier and let me look through them. At the time, I was trying to find some interesting world coins for CNG stock. Most of that box was junk - Abbasid dirhems, fulus, etc. But there was one of these, heavily encrusted. I asked him the price on it and, while we couldn't agree on a number that would satisfy both of us, I was able to coax him into letting us auction it.

 

Actually if it was a bronze specimen it would be even scarcer than the silver variant. This series are all crudely cast as the Mongols were not well versed with Chinese calligraphy and is merely imitating what style they can. In fact if you check on Zeno, there are 2 main caligraphic types. This belonged to Type 1A which I believed is possibly the earliest types as they copied the Jin style whom are their closest neighbor

 

These are not Tang. They are Northern Song

 

Ah! Thanks LS, any idea of which Emperors they are?

 

I had never even heard of this issue. This is a rarity of the highest order. And your's is better than the one in Hartill. I don't think I could ever afford something so rare or impressive.

I have been wanting a silver cash coin for a while, but I may just have to settle for a Kai Yuan Tong Bao. Unfortunately, it would never have the historical significance nor intrigue of this coin.

Fantastic acquisition and thanks for sharing!

 

First would be a Yuan Fu Tong Bao (Hartill 16.38 or 39).

Second would be a Xiang Fu Tong Bao (Hartill 16.59)

Last would be also a mid Northern Song but the top character is too worn for me to decipher

 

First coin is a Yuan You Tong Bao in seal script.

Third coin is a Xi Ning Yuan Bao in seal script.

 

Thank you. It took me a long time to find this and even when they do pop up like on Steve Album's auctions, the condition and calligraphy are often much worse for wear.

I had the great pleasure of obtaining this piece from my friend Jim Farr who is an expert collector of Mongol coins.

 

I don't think the first is a Yuan You. The 2nd character doesn't really look like 祐。I could be wrong but seems more closers to 符。

3rd could be right as a Xi Ning.

 

There is a horizontal line over the left component of the character in question. That is indicative of "You" in seal script.

I have never had the opportunity to buy from Jim Farr. He has stopped selling Chinese cash on eBay.

 

He's sold most of his Chinese coins. He is focused on the coins of the Horde now. In fact he just published his book on the coins of the Great and Golden Horde.

 

It was definitely silver.

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=273484

 

Nice!!!

 

That price is better than I thought it would go for. I might have to try for one of these instead of a US draped bust dollar.