Ancient Chinese coin

I have had this coin since I was a youngster, I believe it was a gift from a friend of my mother, but it's been so long I cannot be sure. Can anyone tell me the date, and, of course, whether or not it is genuine? Is it of Chinese origin? I know nothing about this coin, so any information would be great.

 

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In the first place it's Japanese, not Chinese.

The legend is correctly oriented in your picture, and reads (top to bottom, right to left) "jun-gi tsu-ho". "Tsuho" roughly translates as "currency". I'm not familiar with "jun-gi", but on many cast copper/bronze Japanese cash coins the legend is the era name followed by "tsuho".

The other side of your coin does not match anything in my reference books, and my suspicion is that you have a Japanese temple token, but

BTW there are often multiple readings of the same Kanji character, so what I have rendered as jun-gi may have a completely different sound. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

I'm not sure if this helps, but here is a picture of it with a quarter for size comparison. I also have a smaller one, same dragons on the front, and one of the four symbols is the same on both of them.

 

The smaller one is the normal 1mon size. The other one is much larger than the usual 4 mon size, which is the other standard, reinforcing my belief that it is a token from a Shinto shrine.

If it were a 1 mon coin, the reverse of the smaller one would be blank, or possibly with one character at the top. Becuase it has the same giant bird (not dragon) as the larger one, I'm inclined to also attribute it as a shrine token.

When I get a chance I'll try to match it up with one of the hundreds of pictures in my reference books.

 

These 2 pieces, I am afraid, are charms.

The first one is an oversized replica of a Qing dynasty Shun Zhi Tong Bao coin. Well, only one side that was replicated; the other side with dragon-phoenix is definitely a charm design.

The second coin carries a four-character chinese auspicious message. Hence, another charm piece.

 

These charm pieces are often hung in doorways as part of the Chinese practice of Feng Shui (pronounced 'Foong Shway').The symbols of the dragon & the phoenix are good luck symbols,as they're both Fire signs according to the Chinese horoscope,which works on a 12 year cycle.For example,the Year of the Dragon is 1976.Other Years of the Dragon either side of 1976 are 1952, 1964,1988,& 2000.A few countries,especially those in the British Commonwealth,have issued medal-coins to commemorate the Chinese horoscope.

Aidan.

 

So they are Chinese then? not Japanese?
Charms, you say, does that mean that they were produced recently?

 

Yes, I believe they are of chinese origin, based on the characters on those pieces. You can find a lot of these charms in chinatowns all over the world. Most of these pieces are used, like Aidan said, as Feng Shui paraphernalias, or for some chinese rituals. I can't ascertain the exact date for these charms, but I'd say they look recent, like from the last quarter of 20th century.

 

How about these...

I have had these for a while, can you tell me anything about them? Are they also charms?

 

and these...

 

...

This one too...

 

The second one is a Chinese cash coin. All the others are Japanese 1 mon coins from the early to mid-19th Century.

 

When does the Chinese cash coin date from?

 

I recognize the Manchu characters, but I can't read them, and don't know the dating for that type.

 

Are any of them rare and/or valuable?

 

I've identified the new additions as the following types:

1) Japan, Edo Period - Bun Kyu Ei Ho, 4 mon, small Kyu variety, 26mm, circa 1863.
2) China, Qing Dynasty - Guang Xu Tong Bao, 1 cash, Guangdong mint machine-struck, 24mm, circa 1890-1908.
3) Japan, Edo Period - Kan Ei Tsu Ho, 1 mon, Edo mint, Bun character on rev top, 25mm, early 18th century.
4 & 5) Japan, Edo Period - Kan Ei Tsu Ho, 1 mon, Edo mint, plain rev, 23mm, early 17th - mid 19th century.

 

I don't have any ref book at the moment to tell you the values... but one look at the coins and none of them are rare. The ones with varieties are less common.

 

I don't think any of those coins are particluarly valuable.Besides,China was striking Cash coins from as early as 200 BC right up until 1912.I don't know when the Japanese started striking their Cash-type 1 Mon coins though.Korea & Annam (now in Vietnam) also struck Cash-type coins as well.

Aidan.

 

Actually, no one really does, but the consensus is that at some unknown time following the introduction of Chinese coins, believed to have been in 708 A.D., the Japanese began casting their own copies.

Although Jacobs and Vermeule (Japanese Coinage, 2d Ed. 1972) declare that the first extensive circulation of imported Chinese coins occurred around 637, they seem to be alone in that position - at least in English language references.

• Munro (Coins of Japan, 1st Ed. 1904, 1962 Reprint) considers introduction of the Wado Kaiho aka "Wado Kai-Chin" - earliest of the classic "12 Sen" - as the initial example.
• Hitoshi Kozono (Money History of Japan, translated by Yong-Joon Kim and published by Alan D. Craig, 1st Ed. 1964) makes the same statement
• In his preliminary historical note, Cummings (Modern Japanese Coinage, 2d Ed. 1978), agrees that the Wado Kaiho has the distinction of being Japan's first circulating copper.

 

Great, thanks alot everyone. Quite helpful.