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1 Cash - Yuanfeng Tongbao, Tin imitation
| Issuer | Malay peninsula |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 21.6 mm |
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| Obverse description | Central square perforation surrounded by a raised rim on both the inner and outer edges. Four Chinese characters in running script (xingshu) are arranged symmetrically in the four cardinal positions around the central hole, reading clockwise: 元 (yuán, top), 寶 (bǎo, right), 通 (tōng, bottom — reading order per convention), and 豐 (fēng, left), forming the reign title and denomination legend 元豐通寶 (Yuanfeng Tongbao). The characters are rendered in a somewhat crude, softly struck style consistent with a locally cast tin imitation, and the flat field shows evidence of surface granularity typical of tin casting. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 元 寶 豐 通 (Translation: Yuanfeng (2nd era of Shenzong, 1078-1085) / Universal currency) |
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| Additional information |
Tin cash coins of the Malay peninsula were produced locally to fill chronic shortages of Chinese copper coinage, which dominated regional petty trade but arrived irregularly and in insufficient quantities. The Yuanfeng reign period (1078–1085) lends this piece its inscription, but the coin itself was almost certainly struck well after that era — possibly centuries later — by peninsula traders or small-scale founders who copied the legend for its commercial familiarity rather than any claim to imperial authority.
Tin was the obvious local substitute, mined abundantly across the peninsula, particularly in the Perak and Kedah regions.