The Chopmark Collectors Club "The CHOPMARK COLLECTORS CLUB is for those who collect world coins with chop marks on them. The club publishes a newsletter for their members every three months. Members share information about the coins in their collections. Over the years, this club has assembled the largest amount of information that is available on chop marks. For information on club dues, contact Colin Gullberg." As of Jan 1, 2011 Colin Gullberg has taken over as editor of the Chopmark News, the newsletter of the Chopmark Collectors club. If you are interested in this fascinating area of coins please contact ColinG for a free e-version of the newsletter. Thanks! Colin Gullberg - ColinG Chopmark Collectors Club ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Frank Rose rarity scale for chopmarked coins ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chopmarks and Philippines Counterstamped Coinage The site is in Spanish, and English to some degree, but a great deal of information can be obtained even by those who do not speak Spanish. Many, many photographs with examples of chopmarked coins from various nations and time periods can be found here. And if you explore the links - you can find out even more. Chopmarks.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chopmarked Foreign Silvers - from Sycee On-Line "From the later part of the 16th century until the early 20th century, tremendous numbers of a wide variety of foreign silver coins circulated throughout China. The more important were Spanish colonial Cobs and Pillar Dollars, Dutch Ducatons and Mexican Eagle Dollars. Countless pieces were chopmarked. A frequently asked question is: Why did Chinese chop those coins?" "When foreign silver coins came into China 4 centuries ago, the Chinese believed they were a kind of silver ingot, and evaluated them by weight and silver content, not by face value. They weighed every sycee ( Lumps of pure silver bearing the stamp of a banker or an assayer and formerly used in China as money.) , and silver coins- a "quasi sycee" - weighed them with scales and assayed their purity by their experience and eyesight, chops and even chisels. Chopping, a part of Chinese daily life in dealing with all their measured currencies, was not just aiming at silver coins, but also used with sycee." Chopmarked Foreign Silvers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
