Got this at auction

Okay got both of them in lots I won at auction. Do some internet searching i found there are lots of fakes floating around. So any help would be appreciated. And if anyone can read what they say, please share.

 

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@TypeCoin971793 would also likely have a useful opinion. I certainly don't

 

They are both fakes, unfortunately. The strokes of the characters are thick and imprecise, the patina is bland and uniform, and the overall style is incorrect.

Here are some genuine coins to compare to.

 

I know very little about cast pieces from any country... I'm only really studying South Korean coins.

 

Already beat me to the punch, but I will second the opinions. Unfortunately they are both fakes. I know it can seem hard to detect as the Chinese are really good at artificially patinating things, but in this case it comes down primarily to style. Also value. Decent Qi knives frequently sell around $1,000, the Wang Mang spade about half that. As @TypeCoin971793 already pointed out the characters are too thick and this is a very good indicator (though not always an accurate one as Qing Dynasty charms often have such thick characters).

As for what they say: The knife says "Qi Zhi Sheng", or Qi Legal....I dont know what Sheng is supposed to say in this context. I think the reverse is supposed to say "Bi". The spade says "Yao Bu Er Bao", or Baby Spade Two Hundred.

 

Speaking of cast coins and Korea, have you ever heard or a dealer named Lee J.C. Durret? Many, many years ago he stiffed me on some old cast Korean mun. Took the $, no coins. It's been so long ago, he's probably dead now.

 

Thanks for the information, they were extra items with in the lot so no great loss

 

Glad they were extras in the lot. Thanks again for the information

 

Nope. Never heard of him. The guy was way before my time, if Google searches are any indication: His exact name shows up in Black Belt Magazine's list of contributing writers as their Korea correspondent, and all of the issues of Black Belt are dated from the early 1970s!

 

3-Character knives say “Qi Fa Hua”, or “Qi Legal Money.”

 

Some do, this one doesn't. Not sure what variety they were trying to copy. I could bust out my volumes of Coole, but...no. Way too much work!

 

Oh hm. I am not aware of such a variety. “Zhi” appears on knives with four characters and above, but it is clearly the second character here. The last character appears to be a stylized version of “hua”, but I could be wrong.

 

Books are cool.....

 

Your the best

 

sounds right - thanx anyway

 

Okay this was the last on in the bottom if the lot I picked up. Being the first two were fake not holding my breath on this one. It's smaller than the first blade coin. Again I have no clue what is has written on it but it seems like a lot. The back is also different from the first one. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Yup. Also fake.

 

I’d be worried about the whole lot now. Can you return all of it due to some fakes being mixed in?

 

We all make occasional mistakes but fakes tend to travel in like company so finding three together would suggest the source was not to be used again. In any transaction, one of the two parties needs to be at least knowledgeable to a degree and honest to a fault. Beginners object to having to pay more for the services of 'full service' dealers but bargain shopping from uncertain sources does not always turn out to be such a bargain. That is why some of us suggest beginners start with lesser coins and work up to rarities after gaining some experience. I do not know enough about ancient Chinese pieces to buy them from anyone so I'm risking less buying cash of the Northern Song before jumping headlong into rarities. I don't know if that will help in time (decades of study in the case of Chinese?) or not but I can say that a good feeling about the Vespasian and Nero in hand makes sense before going for the Otho and Vitellius. We all want to be able to trust our own judgments to some degree. The hard part is being honest on what we know and what we think we might know.

Return what can be returned and learn from past mistakes.