Found these in a estate sale lot. Think they are from China, maybe Japan. Thanks for the help. Silver maybe 45 mm 25.4 g Alinement, metal Silver maybe 44 mm 25.5 g Alinement, metal Bronze 33 mm 11.9 g alinement ???
Geez, the guy just wants to know what the coins are, not a tutorial for how to use the internet. It's not easy to research Asian coins if you don't know what you're doing. Silver Rider, I'd help you if I could. All I can say is they have more characters than the usual Chinese cash coins I see, so I'm not sure if they're coins or some other kind of token.
Still looking and I think they may be tokens or what are called lucky coins. I am just hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I do like doing my own research but after so long I ask for a little help.
They are definitely tokens or amulets and not circulating coinage, the characters are Chinese but of course Chinese characters were also used in surrounding countries. Unfortunately I know almost nothing about tokens or amulets, though I could help with regular coins. I think your best bet is to hope someone who does know about these sees your question.
Try later in the day as many collectors of such are in the Far east and sign on late west coast or early next morning on East coast time.
If you do not get an answer here, try zeno.ru - they specialise in Asian coins of all sorts and have subscribers from all languages and nations. You would need to register before you can upload images for identification, and this is done by emailing them. (They get back to you very quickly.)
I have my Chinese friend looked over the characters on the coins. They are definitely just tokens, not circulating currency. The first one has characters about good wishes (peace and make loads of money). The second one is a token against evil beings. The third one is a token about the 5 elements in nature (metal, wood, water, fire and earth). Hope this helps.
