MING: Hong Zhi, 1488-1505, AE cash (3.97g), H--, tai ping tong bao, unpublished type, light scratch on reverse, crude F-VF, ex Dr. Dirk Löer Collection. During the Hongzhi period (1488-1505), various tribes in the former territories of the Dali Kingdom (in present-day Yunnan and Guizhou) issued their own cash coins with the permission of the Ming government. These tribal issues are always crudely cast with a relatively thick flan and barbarous calligraphy, and the names on the coins were place names instead of reign titles according to Hartill. Several different inscriptional types are known so far.

Estimate: USD 75 - 100