1878-1949 Graded Chinese Set (Warning A lot of Pictures)

I have slowly over the past 2 years added to this set. My goal was to have a great cultural set for my daughter when she gets old. I sold off my of my British 1/2p and 1P sets and other stragglers to put together this set.

I strictly am collecting minted coins( not cast) from late Qing Empire thru the end of the Republic.1878-1949.

I still have about 20 or so needing to be graded and a few regrades (2nd opinions)to do later.

Today i seperated them by republic, empire, and distinctive provinces.

There are some lower graded pieces lessons learned when first starting out. Generally i stick with XF45-MS unless fairly scarce or a dumb mistake.

 

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Thanks Rob. I have been exposing my daughter since before she was 2 years old to these coins. I let her go thru the ungradables and play with the slabbed ones. Im hoping it will stick and she will have interest in her collection.

 

These are the raw pieces I wont grade die to quality damage and repeat pieces.

A group of fakes even one slipped past me to PGCS.

A group of Warlord coins and my Favorite copy.

And this is the group still pending submission for grading.

 

This is an impressive collection. Where is the paper money?

 

I do have some paper money but im not too big a paper guy i guess. But for you i will post some.

 

Here are the last few paper notes and a group of Japan Occupation notes used in China HK and Asia (Complete with US propaganda 10 yen leaflets).

On a side note i did put together a complete Unc set of WW2 Japan (Phillipeans) occupation notes both types and a large group of guerrilla payment notes as well as a good bit of japan occupation notes from malaysia and the indies.

 

You posted this topic in the paper money category.

 

I've let the mods know about an hour ago.

 

Sorry im getting old

 

This is an amazing collection and looks great slabbed. What are the 2-3 toughest pieces out of the whole group?

 

Thank you. Thats kind of a tricky question. If based off scarcity alone i would say the Kirin 20 Cash(es) or the 1888 chihli 1 cash or the scarcer Y21.4 Empire 20 Cash. If off grade probably Kiangnan 10 cash or Kwangtung 10 cash. I have 2 that book at 2000 usd.

Many are actually hard to find, however; last year i found a dealer with a collection from the 1980`s so i was able to get many pieces that i never saw on Ebay or in China for 2 years. The Soviet pieces and high grade (AU58+) 100/200 Honan pieces are scarce as well. The tend to be beat up to to large size n heavy weight and alot have ED.

I think the hardest thing putting together this set was the large amount counterfeit pieces and different varieties. You could spend a lifetime studying them.

 

That's awesome and so glad you were able to find a dealer who acquired a big collection. It would've taken years to do on eBay and probably a lot more money.

I find the Soviet era pieces very fascinating. I've put together a few province cash coins in unc condition and designated RB. Those are tough! I've never seen a Red one.

 

That collection is amazing!

 

Wow, amazing collection. Could/will you post some info on the square, and rectangular ones. I'm guessing silver and gold. More info please. I find these types fascinating. Thanks for posting them.

 

(The following is based on my understanding and research)

Most of the square hole Chinese coins you see were cast (poured into molds). These few I have were minted. Usually they are Bronze, Brass, Copper. These are very specific designed based on their dynasty and emperor they represented. These stopped at the end of the Qing Dynasty. The Empire was created. The Chinese Empire coins were famous for the dragons coins. After the Empire transition went to the Republic which most were represented by the 2 flags on the coins and commemorative busts of the founders. The republic ended just after 1949 and the current regime took power. The nationalists fled to what is today Taiwan. A lot of people are confused by the province names on coins from this period (1888-1949). I have included a map (I own) in English below from late 1880's-1890's which show the names and locations of the old provinces.

On the Dragon Empire coins it was put out that each province would have the standardized design and on the reverse of the coin in the center would be the mint mark for which province they represented. The is was only for a certain time period and you can see many variations from different provinces before and after this period. See below the coin with the mintmark in question.

This one has the symbol representing Kwangtung (Guangdong province).

this one you see has no information. this is because it was a standard empire government coin.

another Government coin had Hupoo at the top. This was the government agency responsible for mintage at the time.


I hope this helps you a bit. Its a little harder to type to explain rather than voice discussion.

 

Thanks for the information, awesome.

 

What are the two items that are in a picture together above where you showed the picture of the fakes? One is a large silver colored rectangle while the other is a bronze colored square.

 

I was told they are trial strikes for The mint. they didnt want to waste precious silver or gold materials so did the trial strikes on cheaper metal