page_title: Liao dynasty coinage
section_title: Monetary policy of the Liao dynasty
hierarchical_section_title: Liao dynasty coinage / History / Monetary policy of the Liao dynasty
caption_attribution_description: Une sapèque de valeur 1, dynastie Liao, empereur Dao Zong, ére Da An, 1085 à 1094. Chine monnaie Liao Monnaies de la dynastie Liao (907-1125)
context_page_description: The Liao dynasty was an empire created by the Khitans that ruled over parts of Northern China, what is now Manchuria, and an area in present-day Mongolia, North Korea, and the Russian Far East from 907 until 1125 when most of their territory conquered by the Jurchens who established the Jin dynasty. The Khitans fled westward and created the Western Liao dynasty which in turn was annexed by the Mongol Empire in 1218.
  Liao dynasty coins were based on the cash coins of the Song dynasty but generally tend to be of inferior quality, early Liao dynasty coins were only scarcely produced and it wasn't until the reign of Emperor Xingzong.
  Liao dynasty coins can be read top-right-bottom-left, but unlike the Song's coinage never appeared top-bottom-right-left. Liao dynasty era coins have appeared in both Chinese and Khitan scripts. The coins in Khitan script do tend to have different character orders, Though these coins weren't meant for circulation.
  Liao coinage is extremely rare compared to Song dynasty coinage, while the Song dynasty produced millions of strings of wén annually, the Khitans never exceeded 500.
context_section_description: For 2 centuries Liao dynasty coins weighed the same until the issue of the first Yuan Bao (元寶) coin series, the next 2 generations of coins were lighter which invited private production which the Liao government had outlawed. Lighter coinage became preferred during the Da An period as a measure against the outflow of currency to other countries, though under Tianzuo (the last emperor) the Liao started producing heavier coinage again but this didn't stop the inflation which was caused by the lack of commodities rather than a lack of quality in the coinage. Unlike the Chinese had during the Han and Tang dynasties, the Khitans never resorted to decrease the quality of their coins, as they didn't have any incitement for debasement. This was mostly because the majority of the wealth in the country belonged to the Imperial family, the Khitan nobility, and the Chinese Mandarins who would’ve suffered the most from inflation as there was no influential business class like those that threatened Chinese authorities.
caption: A Da An Yuan Bao (大安元寶) coin, Yuan Bao coins tend to be heavier than Tong Bao (通寶) coins.
exif: {}