cash 1251 Nice copper Li Zong (1225-64), period year 11 , Southern Song, China

Chun You Yuan Bao // Shi yi ("11”, for period year 11 = 1251) above and below hole. 23.5mm, 2.36 grams. Hartill 17.788.

The Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) ruled southern China after the northern territories of the Song Empire were conquered by the Jurchen Jin dynasty. Establishing its capital at Lin'an (modern Hangzhou), the Southern Song developed one of the world's most prosperous and sophisticated economies, with flourishing maritime trade, technological innovation, and remarkable achievements in art and literature. Despite its reduced territory, the dynasty maintained a powerful navy and a sophisticated monetary system, issuing vast quantities of bronze and iron cash coins as well as pioneering the widespread use of paper money. After decades of warfare against the expanding Mongol Empire, the Southern Song was finally conquered by the Yuan dynasty in 1279, marking the end of Song rule in China.

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