Can anyone assist with the legend on the coin in the scan? The Chinese characters down the centre mean (as far as I can tell) "Guang Xu silver coin 5 miscals" I don't understand Manchurian or Arabic? or Turki? script. Do you?
I agree with your translation of the Chinese inscription. I can't read the other languages either but the language on the right is Manchu and the one on the left is Hui. The coin is from Xinjiang and was struck in the 16th year (1890) of the Guang Xu reign of Emperor De Zong. Gary
I recently came across an article in Chinese that discusses this coin. The coin is considered very unusual, and rare, because it has the inscription written in the three languages mentioned in my previous post. The Chinese refer to this coin as the "3 Style" coin. The article mentions that the inscription written in Manchu (on the right) is identical to the one written in Chinese (in the middle). The inscription written in Hui (on the left), however, is slightly different and can be translated as "5 miscals silver coin made by Khan (or Mongol Chief) Guang Xu". Incidentally, the article discusses the "3 miscals" version of the coin which is even rarer than the "5 miscals". The article further states that there are historical references to a "2 miscals" version of the coin but no authentic specimen has ever been found. Gary
