Chinese cash coins

Oregon Viking

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Unknown dynasty/year research really didn't help much.

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Red-Coat

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Your cash coins are from the Emperor Guangxu (Kuang-hsu) who reigned between 1875-1908 but in practice he was a puppet Emperor; only three years old on accession and only held power without the influence of the Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi during 1888-1898.

During his reign the first high definition machine-struck cash coins appeared and these are generally thinner than the earlier cast coins. Yours have the reverse marks for the ā€œBOO Kuangā€ (Kwangtung mint) and were struck between 1890-1908. For some reason they didnā€™t see wide circulation since they usually turn up in very good condition with little wear. Perhaps they were unpopular because they were thinner and struck in brass with a very yellow colour.

Struck Cash.jpg

Unfortunately not very valuable despite the great conditionā€¦ a few dollars at most. As for all Chinese cash coins, replicas and pseudo-coins used as charms and good-luck pieces exist, but yours look authentic from where I sit.
 

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Oregon Viking

Oregon Viking

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Your cash coins are from the Emperor Guangxu (Kuang-hsu) who reigned between 1875-1908 but in practice he was a puppet Emperor; only three years old on accession and only held power without the influence of the Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi during 1888-1898.

During his reign the first high definition machine-struck cash coins appeared and these are generally thinner than the earlier cast coins. Yours have the reverse marks for the ā€œBOO Kuangā€ (Kwangtung mint) and were struck between 1890-1908. For some reason they didnā€™t see wide circulation since they usually turn up in very good condition with little wear. Perhaps they were unpopular because they were thinner and struck in brass with a very yellow colour.

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Unfortunately not very valuable despite the great conditionā€¦ a few dollars at most. As for all Chinese cash coins, replicas and pseudo-coins used as charms and good-luck pieces exist, but yours look authentic from where I sit.
Thank you very much! I have about 30 of them.
 

Yang Hao

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What caught my eye about the coins in this post are the "rust" spots in the image (if those are rust spots on the coins). I remember reading in a Chinese language coin forum last year about rust on coins. Basically, from that forum, rust is an indication the coins are fabrications and not original mints.
 

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Oregon Viking

Oregon Viking

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What caught my eye about the coins in this post are the "rust" spots in the image (if those are rust spots on the coins). I remember reading in a Chinese language coin forum last year about rust on coins. Basically, from that forum, rust is an indication the coins are fabrications and not original mints.
Is there a technique to determine if they are reproductions?

I will add more pictures.

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Red-Coat

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What caught my eye about the coins in this post are the "rust" spots in the image (if those are rust spots on the coins). I remember reading in a Chinese language coin forum last year about rust on coins. Basically, from that forum, rust is an indication the coins are fabrications and not original mints.

Is there a technique to determine if they are reproductions?


Itā€™s tricky! Cash coins of this type were produced at a time when China was attempting to modernise and standardise its coinage, moving away from the old system where coins were tied to a volatile fluctuating silver standard and a unit of weight called the ā€œtaelā€. Many of the older cast copper/bronze cash were sufficiently heavy that the melt value of the copper exceeded the equivalent ā€˜faceā€™ value of the coin against the silver standard. This was exacerbated by a decline in the global value of silver from about 1871 onwards. The cost of producing copper/bronze cash coins by casting had become higher than their face value by about a third.

So, these coins were more efficiently machine-produced rather than cast, thinner and lighter than the cast coins they were intended to replace, and struck in cheaper brass alloy with a rather garish yellow colour.

They can usually be grouped into ā€œlargeā€ (with a diameter of approximately 24mm) or small (with a diameter of approximately 20mm) with weights ranging from about 2.8g to about 3.1g and occasionally up to about 3.4g. All of them with a one cash denomination. Theyā€™re thin (below 1mm and usually about 0.9mm or below). The width of the flat rim around the edge also varies.

ā€˜Modernā€™ (ie non-contemporary imitations produced as charms and good-luck pieces) can often be identified by having non-standard characters which may include characters expressing wishes for wealth, long life or good luck, but that isnā€™t always the case. There are also contemporary copies produced unofficially by merchants to meet the demand for trade coinage due to the limited output from the official mints.

I donā€™t know about the ā€œrust spotsā€ Yang hao referred to, but genuine coins would have no iron content and not be attracted to a magnet.

All I could say is that yours look to have faithful characters for genuine coinage, a typical colouration for the brass alloy used, and your description of them being ā€œvery light cheap like coins not heavy or thickā€ is consistent with genuine coins (if they fall within the dimensions I gave above).

The remarkable condition and the fact you have 30 of them is not an indicator that they are modern since, as I said, these coins seem to have been unpopular in use, were often hoarded, and didnā€™t see much circulation. Is there a back-story? How did you come to have these coins? If they were part of an accumulation of Chinese junk that included charms and such, or modern items, I would be suspicious of their authenticity on a ā€œguilt by associationā€ basis.
 

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