texguy

Howdy,

As said in my other post: http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=35120

I have a Chinese Coin I think and I would like to know more information about it. I've looked at the worldcoingaller.com website and found nothing, I even looked in my Krause Book (2005 Edition 1901-Present, 32 Edition).

Here are the images scanned at 300 DPI

1st (size of image: 520.31 KB)

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...R/878c1c23.png

2nd. (size of image: 443.54 KB):

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...R/cc0dfb98.png

I only paid 2 dollars for this one coin and he had two other ones too but I liked the Dragon better because I am into Dragons. This coin is pretty big I would say at the same size of a Silver Trade Unit (which I also have)

__________________
Richard,
Texas
USA

gxseries

If you don't mind Chinese counterfeit coins, by all means go ahead but I cannot guarantee what they used in their "coins". Sometimes it might be high levels of lead but you'll never know what other levels of heavy metals are used. I'll rather not want to find out and put them in a separate place. If you want dragon coins, I recommend you to get Japanese silver yen or copper sen like this:



Or Korea under the Japanese protectorate era



Or alternatively, many countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan etc strike bullion coins to commemorate the Chinese zodiac, which one of them is the Dragon.

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hontonai

Actually I think it's a fantasy piece, not even a true "counterfeit".

I don't read Chinese, but I am familiar with the characters for "Republic of China" and "year", and the piece does not carry any of them. If genuine, it would have to be an Imperial coin (pre-1912).

Neither the 19th nor 20th Century Krause catalogs show anything remotely similar to the reverse of this item. The obverse characters at 9:00 and 3:00, as well as the right-hand character at the top, do not appear on any picture in those catalogs.

It's hard to say whether the Chinese counterfeiters produce more replicas of real coins, or fantasy pieces. Among their better known fantasy products are trade dollars and Morgans with dates that don't match mint production records.

If you follow gxseries' advice, you may want to look for Japanese dragons, as many of them can be found at a reasonable price in top condition. The Korean Protectorate coins can get very pricey in XF or better.

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texguy

Thanks for the reply. So its either a counterfeit or fantasy piece.

well I have search the Internet for an image but the only image that I found that somewhat resembles the back (reverse) of the coin is the Taiwan Tael

Image:
http://koinpro.tripod.com/BarsMedals...wanTael350.jpg

__________________
Richard,
Texas
USA

hontonai

Which, unlike the questioned item, has a country name and a denomination. A huge difference my friend.

__________________
Ethical conduct is being honest when no one is watching.

texguy

Yes I know the that they are different aside from the name of Taiwan, the two Chinese Characters and the denomination. I was merely suggesting that the Image of the Dragon and Horse are somewhat the same on my coin.

__________________
Richard,
Texas
USA

zenmonk

hi! Texguy, I am a Chinese calligraphy artist and happen to see your posting and decide to help out because I also have a few coins in my collection of the same period. Your coin image indicates it's imperial coin of the second last emperor Guang Xu (old spelling Kwuang Ksu), probably struck between 1905--10, of the province of Gang Su (or Kang su), in Northwest China. The obverse side reads "Silver coin of Guang Xu (reign), Gang Su province." But I can not tell if it's real or counterfeit by the picture alone. The real coin weighs around 26-27 grams. If you are nearby a large public university, you may find quite a few coin catalog books that would have info on Chinese dragon coins, i.e. "A Catalog of Modern World Coins, by R.S. Yeoman (6th Ed.), 1964. Good luck.

Daniel Zheng

fretboard

Yes, Chinese coins are very tricky as they have so many types of coins that unless you can read the letters on them you could easily buy a replica coin as I did. I don't think yours is a replica though, it's just a charm coin. I gave myself a rule to follow after buying a replica and two Korean wons that were the exact same. The rule is that I be very careful when I look at the asian coins and I prefer not to buy the ones with animals on them, they're just too nice for me to look at and I could go broke fast if I bought every one I like.

byrd740

I am pretty sure that it is fake. I have been across thousands of these fake Chinese "dollars". The thing to do is run a magnet over it. It will probably stick.

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elaine 1970

buy chinese panda. a good investment.

Ripley

OK..Give us the weight of the coin, the diameter, Run a magnet over it. If it is inside of traditional parameters it could be an 1870's era Dragon. Even then you can't bee 100% sure. Of course if you like Dragons there are the British Crowns, St. George is pretty neat.