Good afternoon all, i'm trying to figure out what i have here. I got it for a very good price due to the lack of info available. I have looked on the web with not much luck myself.
My guess is that it's a counterfeit 0.999 fine silver round. In other words, it isn't one ounce of silver.
Thank you for the reply, i'm clueless on it. I'm just speculating its older due to the wear. I have family in the jewlery business so authenticating the metal shouldn't be hard. It also has an exact weight of one troy oz. The way it is worn on the reverse should have revealed any sort of clad or plated pewter. It has that distinct ring that silver has. I am a newb so i cleaned it up a bit with baking soda. I have a total of 8 dollars invested so if it turns out a fake at least i have a lesson in this subject.
It's issued by Taiwan, not China. This is the mint which is on the medal. http://www.cmc.gov.tw/main.jsp?language=english I've still yet to find more information about this. It does say pure silver on it. But considering how scabby Chinese counterfeiters are - they are getting better at balancing weights and silver plating it. Silver tests and weights don't really mean much. Unless you go all out and do SG test and know what you are dealing with - playing with Asian silver is like walking around a landmine.
Hahah i agree, i'll be sticking to my libs and ase. The last few months i have built a pretty cool looking collection. My gf's family is from Japan so she is interested in the pandas. Hey at least we now know what country it came from. Thank you
I did a Google image search and couldn't find anything close for either Taiwan or China. Might be silver but I don't believe it was ever legal tender for either country.
It's a silver medal issued in 1992 by the Central Mint (Taiwan) to commemorate the Year of the Monkey. The inscription written vertically to the left of the monkey is taiwan mihou (台湾猕猴) which translates as "Taiwan macaque". Written below the monkey is ren shen (壬申) which, according to the traditional Chinese calendar, represents the year 1992. The inscription at the bottom of the reverse side is zhong yang zao bi chang (中央造币厂) which translates as "Central Mint". The single Chinese character in the diamond at the top is chun (春) which means "Spring". The Chinese refer to the new year holiday as the "Spring Festival". The character is written upside-down which in Chinese makes the auspicious pun "Spring has arrived". According to this Chinese source, an authentic coin has a diameter of 38 mm and a weight of 27 grams. Another source mentions that there were 16,000 of these coins minted in 1992. Please be aware that there are many fakes of this coin. For example, this website is selling a 45 mm version of the coin for about $1.00 each and you can buy them even cheaper in quantity. If your coin happens to be 45 mm then you can be certain that it is a fake. Gary
Excellent info i am very much impressed. It will be measured when i get home! There is a wealth of info on this board, you have no idea. I appreciate the help.
