Hey guys! I just bought a Song Dynasty 10 Cash for $13.50 (+ $4.00 for shipping). The seller has 100% positive feedback, so I definitely trust the seller (quite possible they are on here, so I ask this with no offense intended). The coin looks genuine as well, but it sold to me for such a low price I wonder if it was either overlooked or if people thought it might not be genuine. Any opinions on the coin?
Looks OK to me. Your coin is Hartill 16.407 or 16.408 (depending on whether it's large or thin lines on the characters- I think yours is thin and thus 16.408, both types are about equally common). The coin reads Chong Ning zhong bao, and was issued by the emperor Hui Zong (1101-1125) during the period 1103-1106. Hartill lists this as Rarity 14 on his scale, which is "Very Common" and in the $5 price range (prices in Hartill are only a very rough guide, but it's not a $50 coin or a $1 coin). There's some interesting additional text in Hartill: "In 1102, 5 cash coins were issued. The next year the Chong Ning zhongbao 10 cash were cast and ordered to be circulated everywhere except for the iron coin areas of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Sichuan. Each of these weighed 3 qian and contained 60% copper, 30% lead, and 10% tin. In 1104, the 1 and 5 cash coins were abolished and sole reliance placed on 10 cash coins; even 2 cash coins which had been kept in reserve were reminted into 10 cash coins. The records state that the production of the Chong Ning 10 cash coin was halted in Chong Ning 4, 1105. The following anecdote demonstrates the difficulties associated with such a large denomination: 'A certain good fellow was holding a feast, and gave a large coin for a glass of wine. When he asked for his change, the seller had no coins with which to give it, and said he would have to take his change in drink instead. After drinking five or six glasses, he belched and said, "What if it had been a 100 cash coin?"' This story impressed the Emperor, and because of it the regulations were changed."
