Hsien Feng coin??

Discussion in 'What's it Worth' started by NauticalGirl, May 28, 2017.

  1. NauticalGirl

    NauticalGirl New Member

    20170528_054517.jpg 20170528_054452.jpg I have what I believe is a real Chinese coin any help on the authenticity ? and maybe value
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    Looks like a genuine Chinese cash coin of around the 18th century to me. The two characters in your first image would be the name of the mint.

    Without quick reference handy, I will defer to those more knowledgeable about Chinese coins.

    Your example looks a bit rough but that's not unusual. Generally speaking, Chinese cash of that era are extremely common and I've paid as little as 25-50 cents for pieces that look like that. However, there are better varieties out here that might be worthwhile. Again, I will defer to the specialists on that.
     
  4. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    Your ID is correct, it's the Xianfeng Emperor (1851-1861), mintmark looks like Board of Works (one of the two most common) but I sometimes have trouble with the mint marks. The reign of Xianfeng was a very troubled time in Chinese history, with the Taiping Rebellion causing economic trouble that affected the coinage, including the casting of many large multiple-cash coins. The roughness may be due to an official mint experiencing production troubles, or possibly an "unofficial" mint filling in for a shortage of circulating money. Either way, the value would be about the same (i.e. not very high, maybe a dollar or so) for such rough piece. Still, an interesting historical relic from a fascinating time in history- I recommend reading up on the Taiping Rebellion if you aren't already familiar with it.
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  5. Kevin wu

    Kevin wu Well-Known Member

    Look like fake coin to me . Did not look right me .The real one should be look like this . lf.jpg
     
  6. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    @Kevin wu : What specifically do you think looks fake about the OP coin? The OP inscription is correct for an ordinary tong bao coin (the photo you attached shows a yuan bao) and the roughness of casting could be either a poor product of an official mint, or a contemporary unofficial coin. (I guess an "unofficial" contemporary coin would technically be a fake, but if it circulated at the time it is still a piece of numismatic history.) The original coin is not worth much, the only modern fakes I've seen are struck(!) and do not show such a rough surface.
     
  7. Kevin wu

    Kevin wu Well-Known Member

    You right , the badly circulated and ugly words looking make me think it fake , Xian feng type coin normally the words look beautiful .
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page