This coin was from my fathers collection which was left to me, sadly I cannot ask him what it is since he passed away a few years ago. I do know he had a thing for collecting silver coins but aside from that I am completely clueless. Can anyone help me identify it please?
One side is in the style of Chinese cash coins. The other has a abstract design I've not seen before. Cash coins have a long and storied history. They were made all over China, and also in Korea, Vietnam and other places, over many centuries. The hole was to allow the coins to be strung together into lengths of 100 and 1000, a sort of metallic high-denomination bill. Usually made of copper or brass, they were sometimes also made of tin, lead, silver and gold. An expert hopefully will come along who can read the Chinese characters and tell you more.
Thanks for the info, I'm still interested in what it says. Just by the sound of the coin I'm pretty sure its not silver, which is odd, since its probably the only non-silver foreign coin in his collection.
It looks like a Chinese good luck charm-- The inscription reads "Shou bi nan shan" which is a wish for a long life. The other side looks like it may represent the first part of that wish-- to have good fortune that flows long, like the waters of the eastern sea.
Collector1966 is right, its a charm piece. Charms were normally privately minted, but still very interesting. Historical charms, (minted in the correct era), are very collectible and rare, but they are faked heavily. Chris
