My friend Lin is from China, and taking college studies in Canada. We met last year, and became fast friends, and when she went back to China for the summer she promised to bring me back some coins, as she knew about my hobby. I only expected maybe some of her change, but she did more than that. She brought me back many coins from China, Korea, and Hong Kong. All regular currency of course. Except these really old coins. She says they're from China, and that they're each from a different time period. One one side of the coins is Chinese characters, four of them. She says two of the characters is the name of the king (emperor?!) or that time. The other side has a few other characters. But the odd thing about them is that they have square holes in the middle of them. I know nothing of Chinese coins, or really old coins for that matter, as I generally collect commemorative quarters and such, but these really interest me, and I would love to know exactly what I have. I've taken photos of them, so you can see what they look like. Hope someone can tell me about them!
Hi Lynne and welcome to the forum. What you have are Chinese cash coins. This type of coin, usually brass but often copper/bronze and even iron, has been cast in the Far East for more than 1,000 years. The square hole is a utilitarian feature. The coins are cast in a "tree" mold, with a large number of individual sand molds connected by channels to allow the molten metal to spread. After they are cast and have cooled off, they are broken from the tree and placed on a square stick to hold then while the stubs are ground off. The hole serves another purpose as well. The value of a single coin was quite minimal, and large numbers could be strung together in a sort of necklace for transportation. Originating in China, they circulated throughout East and Southeast Asia; and many were also cast in Japan, Korea, and Annam (approximately present-day Vietnam). Your photos are not clear enough to specifically identify any of them, but the information your friend gave you is generally correct. In addition to the ruler's name or designation, the coins frequently have characters indicating where they were cast, and the specific governmental organization that authorized them; but generally they have no denomination or date on them. You appear to have examples of each of the two most common sizes. Try searching this forum for "cash coin" and I'm sure you'll find a number of interesting posts about them.
Thank you so much for the information! I checked out Chinese Cash Coins on google and was able to match each and every one of them. The oldest is from the 1600s and the newest is from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. I don't have any idea how much they're worth, but at least I know how old they are.
I wish I had a scanner, but I'll ask around amongst my friends if they have one. I'd really like to be able to show exactly what I have.
