I've been working through my unattributed Asian cash coins recently in a thread on the World Coins forum. I can read characters, but that's about it, so it's been educational digging through the Hartill books and starting to teach myself how to attribute these. Most are too new for this board, but I though these 3 made a nice set. L: Hui Zong, Sheng Song Yuan Bao 聖宋元寶, Seal Script, 1101-1106 Hartill 16.354-60? C: Hui Zong, Zheng He Tong Bao 政和通寶, Seal Script, 1111-1117 Hartill 16.437? R: Hui Zong, Zheng He Tong Bao 政和通寶, Clerical Script, 1111-1117 Hartill 16.449? Not sure why the left one is so much lighter in color--I don't think it's one of the iron ones. It's hard to pinpoint the exact variety from subtle differences in the character strokes. I think most of these were picked out of 99 cent bins of cash coins about 25 years ago, before I knew much of anything about Asian coins. Please post any Song Dynasty coins if you like!
Cool coins, @The Eidolon ... SONG DYNASTY China Song Dynasty 10th-12th C CE AE Gaming Token 29mm 6.42g Zhui Feng Zhi Ma-horse following wind- - Horse galloping left - Classic Chinese Charms Vol I 2149 NORTHERN SONG: China Northern Song 960-1127 CE Huang Song Tong Bao 1038 CE H 16.113 China Northern Song 960-1127 CE Huang Song Tong Bao 1038 CE H 16.99
..kool coins..i need to get mine out and go thru'em and see what i have..China has quite a history, coins and otherwise..
@The Eidolon : I think your first coin is 16.360, based on the shape of the character Yuan. The difference in color is probably due to conditions in the soil where it was buried for centuries (minerals that deposit on the surface, etc.), but I don't know specifics. Here's a coin of the emperor Ren Zong (1022-1063), Jia You period (1056-1063), which cost me a whole $2 from a junk box at the Baltimore Whitman show in 2019, and which I discussed in an earlier post: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/how-interesting-can-a-2-coin-be.352550/#post-3972532
I always liked the Northern and Southern Song coins: Imperial China, Southern Song: Kai Xi (1205-1207) FE 2 Cash, Tongan Mint (Hartill-17.529) Emperor Ning Zong (1195-1224) Obv: 開(开)禧通宝 Kai Xi tong bao Rev: 同 Tong above. Tongan mint, Anhui. Numbers for the year of casting below. 三 san (Year 3 - 1203) Imperial China, Southern Song: Qing Yuan (1195-1200) AE 3 Cash (Hartill-17.446) Obv: 慶(庆)元通寶 Qing Yuan tong bao Rev: 五 wu; Year of casting (1199) Imperial China, Northern Song: Sheng Song (1101-1106 CE) AE Cash (Hartill-16.354) Obv: 聖(圣)宋元寶 Sheng Song yuan bao clockwise. Seal script with Dynastic title (Sacred Song) Rev: Blank
I'll never get tired of showing off this guy. It's N Song, Emperor Huizong, Chong Ning Zhong Bao, 10 cash. No clue the Hartill no though.
Maybe this one: Imperial China, Northern Song Dynasty: Chong Ning (1101-1125) AE Ten Cash (Hartill-16.408) Obv: 崇宁重宝 Chong Ning zhong bao. Li script (1102-06). Large Ten Cash with thin characters Rev: Blank An auction lot that I bought a while ago of Northern Song coins:
I know nearly nothing about these but bought one for fun. I don’t get to post it often, so here it is! The below information is from the seller and I have no idea if it’s accurate or not: Song (Sung) dynasty of ancient China Ten Cash 1102 - 1106 ad. Catalog No. H16.399 (David Hartill's), FD1040 ((Ding's), and S621 (Schjoth's) Obverse: Script - CHONG-NING ZHONG-BAO Chong has the meaning of "sublime" and "worship". Ning can translate as "tranquil" and "peaceful". Zhong-Bao can be translated as "heavy currency" Reverse: Blank as minted 35.0 MM AND 11.65 GRAMS
The right character is not “zhong;” compare to my example which is. Not sure what character yours has though. Maybe “tong”
I think they just erroneously called it a zhongbao instead of a tongbao Here's my take on the characters: 崇寧通寶 (Chong-Ning-Tong-Bao) 1102-1106 Here's a similar piece on Numista. Reads clockwise from top rather than the usual top-bottom-right-left.
(duplicate post while trying to edit) Here's a Zhen Zhong 咸平元寶 (998-1003) so as not to have a blank post.