I've found a little bit of info about the 10 and 20 cent coins that were made for the Fukien shipyard in China c1914, and those seem to be a design match to what I have here. I can't find the expected diameter for the two pieces, and neither is listed in my Krause catalog. Laid atop a 32mm Italian medal for scale: https://en.numista.com/342500 Any additional info on these coins or what their scarcity & value might be? I'm tentatively grading in the VF20 Details range, with a major scratch/ding at 7:00 on one side.
If I understand correctly, this would have been either used by the shipyard staff (perhaps as a canteen token) or awarded to them - if I'm even remotely id'ing it correctly. The closest reference piece I could find was this 19mm one (which would be the 10 cent size, I presume?): https://coins.ha.com/itm/china/fuki...059.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515 The Foochow Arsenal was a western (mostly French) built facility that was largely destroyed in 1884 (by the French, ironically). On the site, a modern shipyard was later rebuilt. The Fujian Naval Academy and Fujian Shipyard are there now, along with a museum celebrating the arsenal. It's unclear how functional the area was at the end of the Chinese Civil War c1912. But, apparently local warlords kept it tottering along? Even if just to service & maintain gunboats on the Minjiang river.
Also curious about the design elements. The anchor is pretty self-explanatory, but do the plants on either side have some kind of symbolism for China, the navy, or shipbuilding in general?
