Huangsong Tongbao Coin-Capital Museum

Northern Song Dynasty  (960-1127)

Diameter: 2.4 cm, weIght: 3.9 g

This finely cast coin has a clear inscription in Jiudiezhuan script. The Huangsong Tongbao coin, with its inscription not marking a reign title, were issued in the first year of Baoyuan reign of Zhao Zhen, Emperor Renzong in Song Dynasty (1038). Many of such coins have been handed down because they have circulated over a long period of time. Most unearthed or handed down items bear inscriptions in regular script or seal script, while the Jiudiezhuan script is quite rare, which usually appear on seals or paper money in Song and Yuan dynasties. It is found on no other coins in the history but Huangsong Tongbao coins. It is generally believed that this coin served as a trial-cast example or an auspicious article for praying for successful casting rather than a currency.