I got these yesterday. I like the style. Is anyone on here good with Chinese cast coins I have very little knowledge of them. from Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. After Tang Dynasty I believe. Knife is spring and autumn dynasty. 770-221 BC I believe Its ashame about the crack...
Interesting coins and artifacts, @britannia40 ! I know absolutely nothing about them but we have several very knowledgeable forum members in coins of ancient China. Perhaps, @Loong Siew , @Ken Dorney , or @TypeCoin971793 could advise you.
Hi @britannia40 .. the cracked coin belonged to the Xin Dynasty which was an interregnum by the usurper Wang Mang. It has a face value of 500 shaped like a knife.
The first one purports to be a coin of the Southern Tang kingdom (937-75), Emperor Yuan Zu, 943-61, Hartill 15.77. Bao Da yuan bao, with Tian on the reverse. Except it normally comes in iron... extremely rare in bronze, according to Hartill. Did you get these on ebay? I would have serious doubts about their authenticity.
For the first one, I am not familiar with it, so my opinion would be pretty worthless. I will point out that the strokes are fat and have a rounded appearance to them. I do not know if this is typical for the type, but I know that this is not typical for the era. That makes me think it is fake. The Wang Mang knife I am very familiar with, and my gut said fake despite the break. Those colors in the patina almost always are red flags. The style also seems a bit off with the rims and the characters on the blade. Here’s my example of a similar coin:
