Chinese Cash Coin, 1078 - 1085, Shenzong, Northern Sung Dynasty, Yuan Feng(S556) W/ Star Hole

China - 1 Cash Coin

Northern Song Dynasty

Shen-Tsung / Shenzong Emperor

Yuan Feng - Grass Script

Coins were not minted with dates, but this form was used between 1078 to 1085

Emperor Shenzong of Song(25 May 1048 1 April 1085) was the sixth emperor of the Chinese Song Dynasty. His personal name was Zhao Xu. He reigned from 1067 to 1085.

The main periods within his reign are known as XÄ Níng(Peaceful Prosperity) 10681077, and Yuán Fēng(Primary Abundance) 10781085.
During his reign he implemented his famous reforms aimed at improving the situation for the peasantry and unemployed, which some have seen as a forerunner of the modern welfare state. These acts became the hallmark reform of Shenzong's reign.

Shenzong died in 1085 at the age of 36 and was succeeded by his son.. His temple name means "Devine Ancestor".

The Song dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279. It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to nationally issue banknotes or true paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder.

The Song Dynasty is divided into two distinct periods: the Northern Song and Southern Song. During the Northern Song(9601127), the Song capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng), and the dynasty controlled most of inner China. The Southern Song(11271279) refers to the period after the Song lost control of northern China to the Jin Dynasty in the JinSong wars.

The obverse incription reads "YUAN-FENG T'UNG-PAO" in grass script. This is also an example with the much rarer star center hole, instead of the usual square hole.