Lot 634: Chinese bronze coin Tang dynasty Hui Chang Kai Yuan", 2.51g, H 14.90 Description: 1 cash; Obverse: Kai Yuan Tong Bao Reverse: Provincial mint " Yan " top, - Yan for Yan Prefecture (Shandong) Size: 23 mm; Weight: 2.51 grams; Material: Bronze from Buddhist Statues; Tang Dynasty (618-907), Emperor Wu Zong (841-847). Kai Yuan Tong Bao - "Hui Chang" Kai Yuan. Local mint names on reverse. Refer to FD #709 - #745. Provenance: from coin collector from Netherlands; Huichang Kai Yuan 845 A.D. In 845, in the Huichang period, the Emperor Wu Zong, a fervent follower of Taoism, destroyed the Buddhist monasteries and used the copper bells, gongs, incense burners and statues to cast coins in various localities. These local mints were under the control of the provincial governors. The New Tang History states that Li Shen, governor of Huainan province, requested that the empire might cast coins bearing the name of the prefecture in which they were cast, and this was agreed. These coins with mint names on the reverses, known as Huichang Kai Yuans, are of poor workmanship and size compared with the early Kai Yuans. However, when Xuanzong ascended to the throne the next year, this policy was reversed, and the new coins were recast to make Buddhist statues.