Does anyone know how much this is worth or any information about this coin at all? Also, the back of the coin has a Dragon but I did not take a picture.Thanks in advance.
The dates represent the reign of Jiaqing (嘉慶帝}, a Ching Dynasty Emperor, most famous for attempting to eliminate corruption in the government. Although the striking of milled Chinese coinage did begin in the 19th Century, the first coins showing the bust of a person date from the early days of the Republic, founded in 1912. Use of western numerals to date coins pretty much dates from the mid-20th Century retreat of the Kuomintang to Taiwan. Your piece is clearly not a coin. Are you the Ebay buyer who paid $2.50 + s/h for that (or a similar) item about a week ago? I don't quite understand why anyone would buy something without having any idea what it is.
It's actually one "coin" from a modern fantasy series commemorating the emperors of the Qing (Ch'ing) Dynasty (1644-1911). Another "coin" from this set was discussed here. As hontonai has already mentioned, your "coin" commemorates Emperor Ren Zong whose reign title (period title) was Jia Qing. The Chinese characters along the upper rim are read right to left as da qing jia qing huang di which translates as "Emperor Jia Qing of the Qing (Ch'ing) Dynasty". Unfortunately, the two Chinese characters just to the right of the portrait are too small and indistinct for me to read. If you can provide a better image I will be happy to provide a translation. I'm guessing that the reverse side of your "coin" is identical to the one discussed in the thread I referenced above. If it is, then a translation is provided in my post in that thread. Incidentally, a real coin cast during Emperor Ren Zong's reign can be seen here. Gary
