My friends uncle gave him some Chinese coins which he is not interested. He is offering the lot at $120.00. There is one particular coin that I am interested in - the Northern Song Dynasty coin with a flower (rosette) or star center hole. The website PRIMALTREK.COM says... "The coin is a chong ning zhong bao (崇宁重宝) cast in the years 1102-1106 during the reign of Emperor Hui Zong (1101-1125). This is a "10 cash" coin which means its value was equivalent to ten cash coins. The traditional square hole is outlined by the inner border. Exactly in the middle of each of the four sides of the hole can be seen what would be the four corners of another "square". Please note that the inscription and the face of the coin show no signs of mold shifting during the casting and that there is no extra metal in the hole. The creation of the flower hole could only have been done manually and intentionally. The reverse side of the coin also clearly shows the same four corner points exactly in the middle of each side of the square hole which would delineate the second square. This well cast coin is 35 mm in diameter and weighs 9.48 grams." I have come across a website CALGARYCOIN.COM where a far-worst similar coin was sold for $30.00. An almost 1k-year-old coin sold for that much only?! I have no idea what the other coins are but considering that Chinese coins are appreciating pretty fast, should I buy the coins? Also, are these coins for real? Your comments will be a great help. Thanks
All are common coins. I'd estimate the lot at $20-$30. None of the coins pictured is a rosette center hole. #5 is fake.
