...and there you have it, that is nearly the extent of my knowledge of this coin. I admit to being a lowly novice when it comes to most Asian coins. I'd be humbly grateful for any kind wisdom passed on. 36mm, 11.45g, 57-60% copper. At 12 o'clock on the reverse it has a 2 cash? (er, 二) A friend, in passing, suggested it looked like a Schjoth#1121, but that info is considerably beyond me. Thank you!
The coin is definitely Chinese possibly Song dynasty. Many of these coins found their way to Japan and were known collectively as Bita sen. The top character is the Chinese character Dai for large or big. The characters on the right is "Tsu" on the left "ho". The bottom character is difficult for me to discern. Perhaps another member can add to the history.
Your friend was almost right- Schjoth 1121 is a value 3 coin, if yours is a value 2 it is Schjoth 1120. (Schjoth refers to an older but still widely used catalogue of Chinese cash coins; a more modern reference for your piece is Hartill 19.146.) The inscription, reading top-bottom-right-left, is Da Yi tong bao (Current coin of Da Yi period). (The reading by @Sullykerry2 of Dai _ tsu ho is correct if the inscription is read as Japanese.) This type was issued 1360-61 by Chen Youliang, a rebel in southern China during the late Yuan (Mongol) dynasty. Hartill lists this type as scarce and worth ~$150, so I would be cautious about authenticity- it doesn't stand out as extremely fake from your photo, but there are lots of fakes, copies, etc. of even common Chinese coins, so unless someone with lots of knowledge about Chinese coins (i.e. not me) vouches for it I wouldn't be too excited.
Thank you both for your wisdom! I marvel at your ability to pull out that info. Somehow, a bit of French, a bit of Italian, and a bit of Spanish at school have not helped me in any way in the deciphering of Chinese characters... I have had two individuals of reasonable numismatic stature hold the coin. Both had no problem with authenticity, but neither had Schjoth or Hartill at hand to aid in identification.
Parthicus: Kudos for your succinct reply. I do not have David Hartill's Book on Cash Chinese coins. When I was in college, I graduated with dual majors in Asian Studies (Japanese) and Business Economics. I have found Hartill's research to be almost flawless.
