Found these in my grandfather's coin collection. Not sure what they are. Any help is appreciated. Coin/medallion 1... Coin 2... Coin 3... Any help is appreciated. ~Rob
These are Chinese coins. The first two belongs to the Ching dynasty (dragon design in reverse). #1 coin in bronze, #2 in silver. Coin #3 is from a later Chinese Republic Period. Need to look up a bit for weblink reference.
Yes, I think the top one is real. The other two look fake but I don't know for sure! Many Chinese coins are fake as they don't have laws against it.
They're all old time Chinese coins. Due to their values, they are often counterfeited. Try holding a magnet to them and check their specs against the NUMISTA site, which is very helpful. For the Hu-Nan Ten Cash piece: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces75987.html For the second coin: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces3847.html For the "Fat Man" dollar: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces240879.html These coins can be worth some change and that's why they're often counterfeited. Check first if they're magnetic. Then weigh them and compare against NUMISTA specs.
My grandfather was a merchant marine in WWII salvaging destroyed vessels... He spent a lot of time in the Pacific theater... I'll check them with magnet... ~Rob
All three are not magnetic... Coin 1 equals 7.14 grams. (no info on site) Coin 2 equals 26.79 grams. (indicated weight 26.7g) Coin 3 equals 26.61 grams. (indicated weight 26.4g) The site has the years of production. Not sure how to tell on my coins their date. ~Rob
Assuming the coins are real (I am no expert in this), the reverse of coin 2 says "34th year", so the year should be 1908. The "fat man" dollar (coin 3) says year 10, which should mean year 1921.
So, if these are real what would be the value? I should get my metal detector up n running and check em... ~Rob
Sorry - I'm not sure about the year of the first coin. EDIT: I believe Happy Collector is right on the other two.
Hey Jeff, you've been a world of help and I appreciate it. At least we know the coin is between 1902 and 1906... ~Rob
I think these are undated for the first type. My copy of "The Minted 10 Cash Coins of China" says there are 26 obverse types and 18 reverse types for this province, in various combinations. But I'm too lazy to count the number of dots in the beaded circle or to try and figure out the nuances of the handwriting of the characters. Practically, they are all about the same value unless you have one of the rarities. Oh, and the obverse of the 1st coin is upside-down, BTW. My impression is that the Chihli/Beiyang Dollar has gotten very expensive. Most silver dollar-sized Chinese coins can be assumed to be probably fake unless you have reason to believe otherwise. The real ones carry a big premium over metal value, and some of the fakes are made of silver, so weight and magnetism are not enough to be sure. Maybe worth showing to a coin dealer to ask.
If mine is real, the 1908 Chihli/Beiyang Dollar, then it is the y-73.2 variety in my opinion. It does not appear to be the y-73.3, and definitely not the 73.4. I viewed a side by side comparison between a real and fake coin and mine appeared to be similar to the real one. Given that my grandfather more than likely obtained the coin in China during the war I lean towards it being real, but one never knows. I have other coins from various countries dating from the late 1930's to the early 1950's. I will try to find the site I found the comparisons. ~Rob
Okay... here is the site which shows the comparison between fake and real... https://coinquest.com/cgi-bin/cq/coins.pl?coin=12590 Here is the picture provided... Here is mine... To me the detail is what the real coin demonstrates. Only one way to know for sure and that is to send them in I guess... ~Rob
Well, if it's been in your family for a long time, the odds of it being authentic are much better. I think contemporary counterfeits of Chinese silvers existed, but they would likely be underweight (if made of silver) or made of base metal. Otherwise there'd be no profit in making one back then, right? If it is real, having it authenticated would probably make it a lot easier to sell if you ever decided to sell it. I'm no expert, of course. Thanks for sharing the photos.
