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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;manymore, post: 1750685, member: 17118&quot;]While not an expert by any means, I&#039;ll be happy to provide a few pointers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>These are not actually &quot;nail marks&quot; such as you would see on the Tang Dynasty <i>kai yuan tong bao</i> coins. The nail marks on the <i>kai yuan tong bao</i> coins were intentionally made.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The marks on your coin were probably made as the mother coin was being removed from the sand mould and the rim accidentally touched the sand. Most marks of this type will have the same arc as the rim of the coin although sometimes it appears straighter depending on the position of the coin when it accidentally touched the sand. When the molten bronze filled the mould, it also filled this little depression in the sand which left this raised mark on your coin.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I do not feel these marks detract from the coin.&nbsp; Some collectors even specialize in collecting coins with &quot;stars&quot;, &quot;moons&quot;, &quot;nail marks&quot;, etc.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><br /></p><p>Authentic <i>li yong tong bao</i> coins <u>should</u> have these &quot;scratches&quot;. These &quot;scratches&quot; are from the final filing of the coin to remove any excess metal left over from the casting process. This is a particular characteristic of the <i>li yong tong bao</i> coins as can be seen in <a href="http://www.gucn.com/service_curioauction_show.asp?id=2992654" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.gucn.com/service_curioauction_show.asp?id=2992654" rel="nofollow">this example</a>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Just a minor point. The transliteration should be <i>qian long tong bao</i>.</p><p><i>Quan</i> is a different character such as the second character in the inscription of your first coin (<i>da <b>quan</b> wu shi</i>).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>All of the above coins are actually very nice specimens.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Gary[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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