Hi, I located this Chinese coin today metal detecting at an 1850's Hudson Bay Company Fort in British Columbia. I tried to poke around online to ID it, but, wow....I couldn't match it up. Does anyone have any ideas of what it is, and/or value? Thanks, Shayne
You will need to send photos with a little better magnification and taken directly over the coin and parallel to the surface. Pics taken at an angle are tough to decipher the Chinese characters.
It's a common Chinese cash coin from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The Chinese inscription reads dao guang tong bao (道光通寶) which means it was cast during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor (1821-1850). The reverse side has the Manchu character je indicating that the coin was minted in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Gary
Thanks, that adds up Thank you much. That makes sense re the minting date, as the fort I was at was operated in the early 1850's. As for value, likely minimal eh?