Do you have a "MING" coin ?

A small bowl of Chinese porcelain, bought for 35 dollars at a garage sale in Connecticut, in the northeast of the United States, is going to be put under the hammer at Sotheby's for an estimated value between 300,000 and 500,000 USD.


The lucky "discoverer", whose name has not been revealed, had the bowl with delicate floral motifs appraised by the auction house, first by sending photos, then by bringing the object itself; it turns out that it dates from the 15th century and that it was painted for the court of Emperor Yongle, third emperor of the Ming dynasty. Its "very distinctive" shape and floral pattern place it in an extremely rare bowl category - only six other comparable bowls have been identified in the world. Of those six, five are in museums - two in Taipei, two in London, one in Tehran. The sixth was' last seen on the market in 2007.

But we're here to talk about coins, aren't we ? Do you have in your collection a coin that you bought and underestimated the value ? Please show me your MING coins !

Two of mine, don't know their real value (anyway don't want to sell them), but they certainly worth a lot more than I paid (from "uncleaned" lot).

 

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When I saw hammer and $500k I just about freaked out... I read a little more and I was relieved

 

I have a few Ming coins; here is one of Yongle mentioned above.

 

Paid $1 for my Ming, I think it's worth at least $2 thats a 100% increase in value

 

The bell says "Xuan de Ming China" but it is a replica of a bell I have not been able to identify. We have several copies of this bell in various degrees of excellence but none are original. The coin say Xuan de, too, but I believe it is original.

 

Doug,

What is the diameter of your coin and is it magnetic?

I suspect given the nearly flat back that it is not a Ming coin proper but a Vietnamese or Japanese copy (Bita-sen), which were common.

SC

 

..i think this ones Ming time..

 

My daughter has some coins and a 1 Kuan banknote

 

Ming Dynasty - Emperor Chongzhen - CHINA


China Ming Emp Chongzhen 1627-1644 CE Tong Bao blank 2 last emperor of Ming Dynasty - hung himself on tree behind Forbidden City

 

Not the same Dynasty (2,000 years before), rather the name of the currency...


China Ming Knife money 400-220 BCE bronze Hartill 4.42-3

 

I have tw

I have two of these. Neither is magnetic. Both 25mm. The one shown with the bell weighs 4.32g. The other one is 3.82g and has a distinct rim.

 

I suspect the bottom one is official. The top one possibly a Chinese or Japanese illicit copy. If it were smaller than a semi-official merchant cash trade coin, but at this size it was intended to pass as official.

SC

 

The Ming Dynasty coin pictured below I sold at CNG 483, lot 575 for $324.50, including buyers premium.

CHINA, Ming Dynasty Rebel Issue, AD 1648-1657. AE Cast 10 cash coin: 46 mm, 21.76 gm, 12 h. Hartill 21.13.

 

By your definition, a 'Ming' coin is one bought on spec, not realizing at the time it was something 'special'. That is different from a 'Cherry', which is one whose greatly-over-value was recognized by you when you bought it. My personal favorite 'Ming' coin was the piece below which I bought out of a "Your Choice $7" pile just for the pleasure of trying to figure out what it really is. After several hours of CLOSE, CAREFUL study I finally had the answer -- 1799. That is THE key date for US large cents. Years later I bought from a different dealer a 'weak date' 1799 as a confirmation piece for 300x the price of my 'Ming' piece shown here.

 

I have some old Chinese coins, but I don't know what period they are from.
This is one of them.
I hope it's from the Ming Dynasty.

 

I guess my best "MING" coins would be this Commodus denarius that was found in a 100-coin junk lot.

I also got this really nice Elagabalus cista mystica from a 100 coin junk lot as well.

I bought this for $12 not knowing what it was. Turns out its a rather rare and valuable coin worth MUCH more than $12.

 

This one is Japanese, from 1662 to around 1700. At that point the only Ming claimant left was Koxinga on Taiwan. He was born in Japan though!

 

Wal888, your coin is a Japanese Kanei Tsuho, the mark on the reverse is "bun" and represents the mint of Kamedo, circa 1668.

SC

 

I'm sure I have some Ming coins somewhere within my hoard of coins in the garage. I'll post some images once feeling up to going through that heap of a mess.

I do still have here in my desktop files a few images of a Ming Dynasty white jade belt plaque we found for $300 a couple years ago. It was inset into the cover of a late-19th/early-20th C. cloisonne box. We extracted it from the cover using hot water to loosen the old adhesive in-order to resell. It was a great piece that I do regret selling . But hey, it did fetch good money (five-figures) on an online auction site. We later personally drove it up to the winning bidder 2 hours away in, NYC.

 

JoIke, That is a very fine belt plaque, & the largest size from that particular set. These belt plaques were made in sets of 12-18 pieces & sewn onto silk belts. They were worn by important officials & wealthy businessmen. Over the years I've sold some fine Ming Dynasty belt plaques too. Chinese of later periods would often mount these plaques into small screens for the desk & inset into into small boxes. Pictured below are some plaques once in my collection.