Northern Song Dynasty. Emperor Huizong 宋徽宗。AD1119-1125. Xuan He Yuan Bao 宣和元寶。 Exceedingly rare silver issue. Clerical script. One of only 2 types of silver coins issued during the Emperor's reign (the other type being a silver variant of a more commonly issued Xuan He Tong Bao 宣和通寶). Xuan He Yuan Bao is one of the earlier and rarer issues of the Xuan He reign as compared to the Xuan He Tong Bao. As Chinese cash are always issued in base metals (ie bronze, brass, iron and lead), precious metal issues are exceedingly rare and reserved for reward money within the imperial household in special events such as the birth of a concubine's child, military officers or other celebratory occasions associated with the palace. The characters of this coin is more refined than the base metal circulating issues indicating that it bears a touch of the slender script style of the Emperor himself. In this case, this coin could be a reward money for the Emperor to.show off his calligraphy skills which he is famous for. A bit of background on the Emperor himself, Huizong was known through history as a gifted in everything except ruling his country. He was a master artist and even created his own unique style of calligraphy known as the Slender Gold Script which is praised even up today as one of the finest and most beautiful styles in Chinese History. Whilst officially the 2nd last Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was during his reign that the Northern Song was attacked and himself as well as his heir Qinzong captured by the Jurchen Jin Dynasty. His final years were marked by disgrace as a captive of his enemies where he suffered indignation to the end of his days. Whilst his capture marked the end of the Northern Song, the Song Dynasty lived on as the Southern Song with a new capital established in Hangzhou. The Southern Song lasted throughout for a few generations until their final defeat by the Mongol armies of Kublai Khan who founded the Yuan Dynasty.
Very nice writeup! Here is an example of the Slender Gold Script, unfortunately not in gold. Didn’t the Tang also issue some silver coins?
Nice piece. indeed a representative specimen of the golden script. Gold and silver coins were issued back from the Tang and possibly Han. Similar to these, they are imperial gifts and also exceedingly rare. Problem with Tang and Han issues though is identifying the reign and source of the issue as they span hundreds of years using the same coin inscriptions.
Nice coin and write up @Loong Siew . I would love to own an ancient Chinese silver piece one day but unfortunately I am such a novice with far eastern coinage that it will be a while before I'm knowledgeable enough to comfortably do so. I do have one example of this emperor however... I find this to be a fascinating historical period. Ancient China, Song Dynasty Emperor Song Huizong (AD 1100 - 1125) AE 2 Cash Dia.: 31 mm Wt.: 8.35 g Obv.: Xuan He tong bao. Rev.: Blank Ref.: Hartill 16.476 Ex Ken Dorney
Thanks @Curtisimo . Yours is also a specimen of the same Emperor and regnal period. Xuan He was his last period. It was a fascinating period but also a sad period in Chinese History because of how China was divided. Such and illustrious period but fell to political incompetence and foreign powers
Thanks for the write up Loong Siew, and like Curtisimo, no silver just bronze, description was given by the seller, I have no idear about Southern / Northern Song dynasty.
Thanks @Andres2 . The Song Dynasty has an interesting history. It is a period of cultural brilliance but political weakness. It is a time where China was divided between various foreign powers vying for independent identity after the fall of the Tang. The capture of the old capital Kaifeng and the Emperor marked its end. However the southern powers were still strong enough to resist the Jin and outlasted them when they were conquered by the joint forces of the Southern Song and Mongol armies. It is worth reading on the subject..
Wow, that is a grail coin for sure!!! (How can you tell it's solid silver, and not plated? I'm not questioning the coin at all, just curious how one can tell given the heavy patina.) I have a few common Hui Zong, but none from the Xuan He era... now on the list. (Do you have a Chong He?) 10 cash, Chong Ning, 1102-1106 10 cash, Da Guan, 1107-1110, slender gold script 1 cash, Da Guan, 1107-1110, slender gold script 1 cash, Zheng He, 1111-1117, seal script 1 cash, Zheng He, 1111-1117, Li script
Hi @Severus Alexander . nice collection.. silver vs AE patination is different. Silver is silver oxide which is darker grey or even black. This coin has that type of patina. I have seen plater ones but Chinese tech back then do not use electricity so they can’t plate it like how we know but rather coat it in precious metal. These often shows signs of peeling off and the oxidation below the coat is pretty obvious.
Thanks for the explanation! Those of us who usually see western silver would rarely see something as heavily oxidized as that. And maybe there is some silver chloride there too (yellow-brown)? This made it look like bronze patination to me, but I see now that it's silver. Just a fantastic coin!! I'm totally jealous.
I understand. it can be deceptive and the patination is sometimes quiet different from western issues which I suspect were mostly cleaned. Here is my piece of another silver cash before and after cleaning. Notice the patination being that green is often compared to AE https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=60146
