This is that same cash coin that showed up in the junk bin a little over a month ago. 1736-1795. The problem is, the characters are a bit weird to me. The reverse is unclear, because of a combination of wear and a bad casting job, but it appears to be Hupu (Peking board) mint. On the obverse, the top character matches the Shan-lung commemorative issue, but the bottom character does not have the vertical lines associated with that issue. Can anyone help me out here?
Well, I'm not an expert in this area, but that's never stopped me before... I have just looked through the illustrations of Qianlong cash in Hartill's book, and checked the results of a Google Images search for "qian long coin". Here are the two forms of the character "qian" that we're talking about: Most coins of Qianlong have the type A form of "qian". The "shan long" posthumous type features type B, and so does your coin. However, there are a number of other coins I found in Hartill and online that are not "shan long" but which do feature the type B qian. So, it seems that there was variation in how that character was written, at different mints or different times, and there isn't anything unusual in finding type B on a normal lifetime issue. Of course, as I said I'm not an expert and I could be totally wrong. If someone actually knows differently, I'd like to hear any corrections.
I would say definitely not Shanlong. Scenario 1 From the picture, my first thought on mint was Guizhou Province. Pretty tough to tell, but that would be my first guess. There is a note in Hartill concerning particular coins from this mint (that even have the special Long character) that reads, "Not connected with the Peking Shanlongs." That would help explain some of your questions. Within the coins shown for this mint, there is a variety that has a somewhat similar Qian character, but not nearly close to a match, and a variety with a square head tong. I could live with the thought that it might be from this mint, just not seen by Hartill. Scenario 2 The Qian character most resembles the Board of Revenue issues from the 1782-1795 period and most definitely resembles 1795 issues (H22.227, etc.). In addition, there is as a variety with a square head tong. Also noted are the broader rim coins which elongated the tong bao, similar to the coin pictured. So, I see more "likeness" to these coins and they are the last coins made before the true Shanlongs. If I had to give you an answer, I would say this is your best bet. Having seen so many of these coins for so many years, it is sometimes a best estimate based on the clues and the things you definitely see vs things about which you have to guess.
