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Southern Song Dynasty
Shaoding Tongbao
(Upward Yuan Version 2)
南宋
紹定通寶
(背上元版型二)
Item number: A4525
Year: AD 1228
Material: Bronze
Size: 24.2 x 24.1 x 1.4 mm
Weight: 4.1 g
Provenance: Spink 2023
This coin is a “Shaoding Tongbao” minted during the reign of Emperor Lizong of the Southern Song Dynasty. The coin’s distinctive feature is its inscriptions in a regular script style.
This is a square-holed coin, featuring a square hole in the centre. The obverse inscribed the four characters “Shaoding Tongbao” in regular script around it.
The reverse side also features a central square hole, with the character “Yuan” indicating that it was minted in the First year of the Shaoding era. Additionally, there is a raised flaw beneath the character on the reverse side.
The Shaoding Tongbao was minted during the Shaoding era of Emperor Lizong’s reign (AD 1228–AD 1233) in the Southern Song Dynasty. It served as an important currency of the time, along with the Shaoding Yuanbao, although the Yuanbao coins are relatively rarer. These coins were made from either copper or iron. The denominations of the Tongbao coins included one-cash, two-cash, and three-cash types, while the Yuanbao coins are known to have denominations of three-cash and five-cash.