The picture on the left with a single character at the top is the reverse. For this type of coin the side with four characters at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock, is always the obverse whether the coin is Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Annamese.
What about these Chinese coins? I found some Chinese coins on a coin site and I am wondering if they are authentic? It is a boxed collection with some pretty interesting pieces, but the price seems a little too reasonable? I am intrigued by these. How should I approach this potential purchase? Any help would be great. Here is the link: http://www.blackmountaincoins.com/p/BMC/c-/1111_CHN_00522.html
I won't buy that set... here's why: 1) Ghost face money from shang dynasty => can get singles for < $5 each 2) Too good to be true. 3) Yuan feng tong bao, grass script => in that condition is virtually worthless 4) Wu zhu => old, but too many around, can get for < $5 5) Kai yuan tong bao => depends on the rev. Common types at that condition abt $2-$3 6) Hung wu tong bao, if rev blank=> abt $2, if rev with varieties=>abt $5 7) Sorry, no idea what coin 8) Knife money from zhou dynasty => abt $15 9) Xian feng zhong bao, 15 cash, nanchang mint => abt $20 You can find lots of sets like these in china... sets of Song, Qing, etc cash coins, nicely displayed in colorful folders with COA(questionable) and tons of info. Coins are mostly genuine, but in poor conditions... and I hate to see the coins been glued to the folders.