What is this.....found in forest

When I was 12 years old, I found the following while at boy scout summer camp in the forest around Camp Tahquitz in California. I kept it, and found it recently when going through some drawers.

What is it? Thanks...

 

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Rotate the bottom image 90 degrees right and make it the obverse. Chinese. Emperor Gao Zong, Qian Long reign, Hunnan province. 1735-1796 AD.

 

Thanks.

What is the value of a coin like this?
And, am I to understand that it does not have a specific date, but was minted at some point during this emperor's reign?

 

OK, how is this.....

The Obverse:

 

Actually, the coin is upside down now. The Chinese character at the top should be at the bottom, and the Chinese character at the bottom should be at the top. If you now rotate the coin 180 degrees you will have the correct orientation.

Also, the coin was cast in Yunnan Province and not Hunnan Province. Manchu characters are sometimes difficult to differentiate.

Emperor Gao Zong reigned from 1736-1795 so the coin was cast sometime during that period.

There were a number of mints operating off and on in Yunnan Province during that time so it would probably be impossible to determine the exact year your coin was cast.

Regarding "value", these coins were cast in very large quantities and are considered to be "very common". They can be purchased from a dealer for about a dollar.

Gary

 

Yunnan it is then. I keep having trouble jumping between Wade-Giles and pinyin systems.

 

Thanks for your help.

It was a cool find when I was 12!

 

Wow, you guys are good! I would have just said it was a Chinese cash coin of little value.

 

Very cool find...value = priceless in memories. Traci

 

value aside, its a great thing to find

 

I've got one, apparently they signify luck, immigrants brought them here, so they are plentiful.