Hiya All! I recently acquired this interesting coin - a 1939 Malayan Cent of KGVI. On it are 2 chop marks (one each side, different from one another) which intrigued me for a number of reasons. Firstly, I was confused as to why one would chop a base metal coin, and secondly, the chops look to me remarkably like Chinese silversmith makers marks. As there has historically been a large Chinese population in the Straits, this is not entirely surprising. Along with the additional tooling to the obverse, I suppose this could have been some sort of slap piece for a silversmith, but then why 2 different chops? In doing research, I have found a KGV Cent with similar marks (not the same), but have not been able to turn much else up. I know 0 Chinese, and every time I try to crack the characters, I end up with a headache and no progress. Owing to this state of affairs, I was wondering if one of you fine people who knows some Chinese might be able to translate the chops for me, or anything else about them for that matter would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I don't know Chinese either, but is it possible the countermarks are not Chinese but are from Japanese occupation during WWII? I'm also curious about all the marks on the obverse fields that look like a very small tank drove over it.
Characters on the first one (upside-down compared to the coin) look like: 足金 (zu2jin1) = "pure gold" I suspect someone was just messing around with an existing character punch, as the coin is obviously not gold. I believe the phrase is used in Chinese but not Japanese to indicate purity. Other side is harder to read, but maybe 汉銀 (han4yin2) = "Chinese silver"
This is also seen on Chinese fen coins of the same period. I’m fairly sure it’s a modern fantasy situation unfortunately.
Certainly with regards to the occupation marks and the 'to be collected' punches, I think there is a lot of modern fantasy work going on. Here, I am more inclined to think that a silversmith / jeweller was simply testing his punches.
