你们好！ Hey all, I'm a novice to coin collecting, but being a Chinese major I can't help but want to extend into collecting Chinese currency. I was wondering if anyone knew any informative books or websites of Chinese currency? I'm approaching this more from a hobbyist standpoint, not an investment, but investment value is never a bad thing! 谢谢! Thanks, Drew
Here's a tip especially if you are collecting Chinese coins - never underestimate how low counterfeiters can go. I've got a counterfeit Chinese yuan coin which is a mere 12 US cents! Imagine other scrap coins and such if 1 yuan coins are supposedly profitable enough to be counterfeited. That said, history of Chinese coinage is so vast, it's up to you to decide where you want to start from. Here's my collection of various Chinese provinces: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/china/china_province.htm Shouldn't be too difficult but can be tough and expensive for some coins. Best of luck!
Chinese coins are a remarkably affordable collectible. Not only were they produced in tremendous quantities, but they were (and still are) widely counterfeited. For example - its estimated that during the 19th century more *unofficial* coins were cast than official issues! I'm sure that, if you're studying Chinese language and culture, you've noticed their unique attitude towards counterfeiting! Not to worry though, if you stick to a few reputable sources, you should have few problems with fakes. Gxseries' site is a good introduction to late 19th/early 20th century struck Chinese bronze coins. Have a look at my "Chinese/East Asian" gallery in the link in my signature for more ancient coins. If you're interested in those, I highly recommend buying a copy of David Hartill's Cast Chinese Coinage. It covers everything from the earliest cowrie shells to the final cast issues of the Republic of China. Here's some random interesting ones. This one was likely cast during the reign of the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang: Late Qin to early Han Dynasty Ban Liang type c. 300-187 BC 31mm, 6.61g Hartill 7.7 This one was cast under one of the Han dynasty's greatest emperors, Han Wu Di: Western Han Dynasty Wu Zhu type under Han Wudi, 115-113 BC Hartill 8.9; Thierry 3 The characters on this coin are written in the "slender gold script," the personal calligraphy of Emperor Hui Zong: Hui Zong, Chong Ning reign Northern Song Dynasty 10 cash, 1102-1106 AD slender gold script Hartill 16.399 And lastly, this is a coin of the famous Kangxi emperor: Sheng Zu, Kang Xi reign Qing Dynasty 1 cash, 1680-circa 1690 AD (24mm; 2.35g; 12h) Board of Works Mint Hartill 22.95; Hartill Qing6.22 var. (diameter)
Drew, Welcome to CoinTalk! Be sure to check out the Paper Money forum of CT as well. There are some recent/past threads on Chinese paper money you might find interesting or if you get into this side of collecting, you may like to share anything you find with us: Chinese notes U.S. Paper Money From China You may also find some interesting Chinese paper related items in an upcoming auction: American Bank Note Company Archives Auction, Part VI - October 22nd and 23rd, 2010 [CT link] ArchivesInternational.com The American Bank Note Company, Archives Auction, Part VI
你好吗? Nihow ma? (Or "Nihow are you?", a joke none of my Chinese colleagues ever found funny.) Zeroeth Law: Never, ever ever ever buy anything Chinese unless you are absolutely confident of the dealer. If you have not seen Susan Headley's video on About.Com about a Chinese counterfeiting factory (here) you are the last person on Earth not to know. Start with the assumption that the object is fake. Then work from there. First Rule: Buy the book before you buy the coin. David Hartill's Cast Chinese Coinage is all right. It is modern and it does rest on several well known classics, including "Fisher's Ding" and "Schjoth." Chinese currency (currency of the Far East). A comprehensive text... Chou dynasty (1122 B.C.--255 B.C.) through Ch'ing dynasty (1644 A.D.--1911 A.D.). by Fredrik Schjoth. Fisher's Ding or Din Fubao's catalog of old Chinese cast coinage selectively translated and annotated, with coin numbering, modern pricing, an index, a cross-reference to Schjoth's catalog, transliteration conversion tables, Manchu writing examples, a list of Qing Dynasty mints, etc., added. by Fu-Pao Ting And then there are the works of Kann: Eduard Kann / Edward Kann History of Chinese paper money (ancient). Coinage of the Chinese Emigre government, 1949-1957. The currencies of China; an investigation of gold and silver transactions affecting China, with a section of copper. Early Chinese silver coinage. Illustrated catalog of Chinese coins (gold, silver, nickel and aluminum). You can get them all from the ANA Library, if you are an ANA Member, whiich you ought to consider at this stage of your hobby. As for dealers, if you stick with ANA members in the USA you will have fewer problems, and if you do, the problems can be solved. A search of the ANA Website lists about 15. Of them, the only one I know is Scott Semans in Issaquah, Washington. I would avoid offshore companies, even if they are ANA Members. However, one stands out: Taisei Stamps & Coins (HK) Ltd of Kowloon HONG KONG. They have a sterling reputation. Oddly, there is one dealer, not an ANA member whom I would recommend: Frank S. Robinson. I don't know why he never joined. He is a retired administrative (regulatory) law judge from upstate New York. I met him by buying ancients. I read and reviewed his book, Confessions of a Numismatic Fanatic, in which he talks about his early fascination with Chinese numismatics, an area he still markets. http://www.fsrcoin.com/ BTW, I have an interest in languages and I had two community college classes in Japanese for Business and then worked first for Kawasaki and then for Honda. From Japanese, it was an easy move to work a bit in Chinese numismatics. I went the route with cash coins, attributing them myself against the books, getting comfortable with the characters and all. When I was at Kawasaki, one of the Japanese majored in Chinese in college and work for KHI in China. I showed him my cash coins, all purchased from reputable ANA dealers. He said, "You can buy these today at The Great Wall." I pointed to the toning, the aging, and he said, "Overnight in pig brine." One of my other interests is aviation and as a tie-in to "Terry and the Pirates" I bought a couple of stacks of 20th century Chinese paper, but with a clear understanding that the KMT counterfeited its own currency. (See The Soong Dynasty by Seagrave. KMT looting of its own bank caused its banker H.H. Kung to abandon the effort and bring his wealth to America.) I still pursue some other interests with China, mostly as research material, not collecting. In addition to the cash, and modern struck coins, and modern paper, I have a slew of exonumia, tokens, chits and things, including some bamboo tokens good for tea, apparently, though sold to me as tax receipts for hot water. In had a class in History of China, a one-semester survey.
