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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Loong Siew, post: 3134933, member: 75799&quot;]<b>Northern Song Dynasty. Emperor Huizong 宋徽宗。AD1119-1125. </b></p><p><br /></p><p>Xuan He Yuan Bao 宣和元寶。 Exceedingly rare silver issue. Clerical script.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of only 2 types of silver coins issued during the Emperor&#039;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&#039;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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]800366[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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