Got another Tibetan copper recently. Nothing rare or expensive, but I enjoy these coins regardless. If I can read the reverse correctly, I believe it is Cycle 16, Year 24 = 1950, so right around the time of the Chinese invasion which ended Tibetan independence. From the center portion: "Cycle" 16 Year 24 Please let me know if my attribution looks correct! I think there are a few varieties for 1950 with the dot placement on the obverse, but since I don't have a picture to compare with, I'm not even sure what to look for.
It definitely does! Zeno.ru should have some examples to compare it to. Interestingly, coin issues did not end until 1953.
There's something about this coin that attracts me. Is that the moon and sun together? I wonder what it means...
I don't know, but some versions of the same series have 2 suns instead! Tibetan cosmology is pretty complicated, and I imagine a lot of the little details on their coins have hidden significance, but it's beyond me.
For comparison, here's a 1949 (Cycle 16, Year 23) Tibet 5 sho of the two suns type (left) which I got a few years ago.
I learned that there's been sightings of two suns in the skies over China. It's a phenomenon caused by reflections caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere. Symbolically, it signifies a change, I think.
