Chinese Coin: Real or Fake?

[kendallkirk]

Found this today in my front yard...from the things I've found on the internet, it looks to be in too good condition to be the real deal (from 1736). There is one post on this forum with a similar coin:

This one has the same markings on the front (side with four marks), but different markigns on the back (side with two marks):
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=9282
To the best I can understand, the markings on the back side indicate the mint location?

This link shows some Indonesian reproductions, but how do I know if its a repro or not??? http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/.../Shimasen.html

Googled it and found this, but not very helpful: http://flickr.com/photos/11107124@N02/1477887769

This is from a different forum...markings on front side are the same, but again, the markings on the back side (mint marks?) are different: http://www.mytreasurespot.com/forums...583#msg-301583

A quote from this link reads "According to Manganos(Chris) when the railroads were being built in Richmond, Chinese immigrants were used to help build them and these coins were what they were paid with. During the time that these coins were made the Emperor of China was Kao Tsung. His reign title was Ch'ien Lung and the Chinese characters on the coin say that."

Whether or not it has any significance, my house is a few hundred yards from a branch of (I think) the Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to show my research to maybe save others some time. Does anyone know how to tell if it's real or fake. Maybe I should locate a foreign coin dealer in my area.

Thanks in advance.

[sectshun8]

Ahhh another one of thse Chinese "cash coins". We've seen quite a few on the boards.

[DetectorJunkie]

real.

[Voriax]

Looks real to me. The upper symbol in lower pic means 'coin'. Lower symbol tells the mint. Probably Board of public works, Peking.

Voriax

[Romeo7]

Check out my Avatar. I found it last summer here in Idaho. It dates to 900 - 1200 AD.

[KYshooter]

That is one awesome find ... and quite a history!

Geoff
Kentucky Coinshooter

[kendallkirk]

Thank you all for your opinions...I was leaning towards the fake side just because I have a hard time believing that I could find something that old on just the 4th day that I own a detector...I guess stranger things have happened though.

[EncrustedYen]

These coins were mass produced and scads definitely made their way to America. Probably worth a couple of bucks at most. Unless it is a rare type it is certainly not a fake.

A very cool find though. Now challenge yourself to ID it!! I am 100 percent certain you can find it if you try.

( if you cant send me a message and I will give it a go )

[kendallkirk]

Originally Posted by EncrustedYen

These coins were mass produced and scads definitely made their way to America. Probably worth a couple of bucks at most. Unless it is a rare type it is certainly not a fake.

A very cool find though. Now challenge yourself to ID it!! I am 100 percent certain you can find it if you try.

( if you cant send me a message and I will give it a go )

OK, for others of you with Chinese cash coins that would like to ID them, this is the motherload for translating the markings and identifying the coins: http://ykleungn.tripod.com/chronolo.htm. Another good site here: http://www.sportstune.com/chinese/coins/.

For my coin: It is from the Ching (Qing) Dynasty and the mintmark (Yuwan) on the back side indicates that it is from the Board of Public Works, Peking mint. The other mark on the backside is "Boo" which means coin. The markings on the front side say Ch'ien Lung Tung Pao. Ch'ien Lung is the reign title of emperor Kao Tsung (1736-1795 A.D.). The coins from this emperor's reign are among the most common of Chinese coinage.

Even if it is a common coin, still neat to dig it up in my front yard...and fun researching its history as well.

[Voriax]

Yup, these coins are considered to bring good luck. That may be the reason why most chinese cash coins that are shown on these forums are Ch'ien Lung coins. Also the modern replicas that are made for Feng Shui purposes are usually copies of Ch'ien Lung coins.

Voriax

[Patrickray]

I showed this to my brothers wife. She is from china. Here is what she said. I will let you know more in a few weeks when they goto china.

I had Hong look at the coins.
She said do NOT!! sell them!
They are worth some money.
She said they are indeed Chinese coins.

From the photos she can not tell but they are more than likely Gold or Silver.

Now here is the best part.
She said they are over 1000 years old.
Yes i said 1000.

She said her father would know more.
I have made copy's of the photos and will bring them to China
and have her father look at them.

[sunder62]

Great stuff. keep going ...please. We are all HISTORY buffs..no matter if it comes from America , or abroad... Really, Thanks

[kendallkirk]

Originally Posted by Patrickray

I showed this to my brothers wife. She is from china. Here is what she said. I will let you know more in a few weeks when they goto china.

Thank you Patrick, I will be looking forward to any new information that you might find out.

My wife always makes fun of me because I talk about how much "this or that" is worth (usually never more than a buck if I found it)...she points out that it doesn't matter because "you're not going to sell it". I guess she's right, still neat to learn the history though!

[CountyWorker]

Originally Posted by DetectorJunkie

real.

Another Stocktonian in the house!

I dug this one up Saturday at a house built in the 1870s.

[Brian in TN]

I found his exact coin over the weekend in Benham KY. Not sure if its real, but it was dug in an old area and it was deep. This town is an old coal mining town and lots of railroad throughout. Perhaps a chinese rail worker dropped it.

[canudiggit?]

know this is an old post but wanted to say that I researched quite a lot and the basics of real vs. fake were that the real ones are thick like a nickel and the souvenir ones are thin like a dime. Unsure how true this is, but that's what I've found.