Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;manymore, post: 872009, member: 17118&quot;]Since very ancient times, the five-clawed dragon could only be used by the Emperor.&nbsp; I believe by the time of the Qing (Ch&#039;ing) Dynasty (1644-1911), both the four and three-clawed dragon could be used by anyone although, even at this time, the four-clawed dragon may still have been used only by nobility and high government officials.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Government&quot; coins, i.e legal coinage, was issued under the authority of the Emperor.&nbsp; Since your coin clearly identifies itself with the period title of the Emperor (<i>Guang Xu</i>), the year 1905, and states that it was struck at the mint in Gansu, the coin would have to have a five-clawed dragon <u>if real</u>.</p><p><br /></p><p>No legal coins could possibly be issued by the government with the Emperor&#039;s name and a four-clawed dragon.</p><p><br /></p><p>When I used the term &quot;lethal flaw&quot;, I was actually using a pun.&nbsp; To pair a four-clawed dragon with a Chinese emperor would have meant death to the person(s) involved, and quite probably, death to the perpetrator&#039;s entire clan!</p><p><br /></p><p>So, we can be certain that the coin could not have been issued by government authorities.</p><p><br /></p><p>We also know that it is not silver and could not have been produced in Gansu since, I believe, the Gansu mint did not strike any silver coins during Guang Xu&#039;s reign. </p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, there are no Chinese coins, or even charms that I am aware of, that have a dragon and horse on the reverse side.&nbsp; I relied on my familiarity with traditional Chinese symbols to propose a possible explanation for the pairing of the <a href="http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html#dragon" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html#dragon" rel="nofollow">dragon</a> with the <a href="http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html#horse" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html#horse" rel="nofollow">horse</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>In my estimation, the &quot;coin&quot; can only be considered a fantasy piece.</p><p><br /></p><p>Gary[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in