This coin (?) is currently listed on eBay. Can see the character for 2 (er) but not the 10 (shi) character to make up 20. I have not come across anything like it before, so can't identify it. Can anyone help?
I confess that I know absolutely nothing about Chinese silver coinage but nowhere on the coin does it say 20 or 2 "tens". The Chinese inscription says 2 "qian". The "qian" was a unit of weight. According to my Chinese dictionary, one "qian" was equal to 3.73 grams so two "qian" should be about 7.46 grams of silver. Sorry, but I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the coin or its value.
It's 2 Ch'ien or 2 Mace, issued by Chien-I, Changsha in China, circa 1908. Some called it Yin-bing (silver biscuit), a kind of bullion coin, worth 2 mace weight. The ID is K# 982/3 in Krause catalog (1901-2000). The weight should be around 7.3g. The reference price in Krause is USD200 for very fine condition. I am not sure whether it's genuine or not. Many counterfeits exist.
