6 replies to this topic

[wei]

I was wondering how much a silver dragon coin from the Kwang Hsu period would be worth.
Apparently a silver coin 1932 Sun Yat-Sen is worth only $25 on ebay... how dissapointing. Seems rather common. The Yuan Da Tao is also rather common, and made from the Dragon coins after the birth of the republic.
Since the Dragon coins were the first machine made coins in china, i'd expect it to worth more. Any ideas on how much?

[norenxaq]

I was wondering how much a silver dragon coin from the Kwang Hsu period would be worth.
Apparently a silver coin 1932 Sun Yat-Sen is worth only $25 on ebay... how dissapointing. Seems rather common. The Yuan Da Tao is also rather common, and made from the Dragon coins after the birth of the republic.
Since the Dragon coins were the first machine made coins in china, i'd expect it to worth more. Any ideas on how much?

they might be worth more, but not because they were the first. value is dependant on supply and demand.
historical interest rarely plays a role in this

[Erik Huang]

I have more than 800 pieces of Chinese coins from the 19th century Qing dynasty and early Republican China.

My father bought them from several Indonesian workers who found them buried in a jar with other coins from Western countries from USA, French Indo-China, Mexico, Spain, Japan, ranging from 1734 to first half of 20th century. Most are still covered with dust and patina and never polished. I only acquired from him a few years ago.

Some of the coins like Liberty 1799, Spain 1734, etc were identified to be COUNTERFEITS.
I don't know about the rest of the coins but I was told that many coins from the late Qing to early Republican period are fakes.

The Chinese coins are:

MANCHU DYNASTY-KIANGNAN PROVINCE
MANCHU DYNASTY 1903-PEIYANG
MANCHU DYNASTY 1911-ONE DOLLAR
EARLY CHINESE REPUBLIC 1912-COMMEMORATIVE ONE DOLLAR
EARLY CHINESE REPUBLIC 1912-SICHUAN PROVINCE- ONE DOLLAR
EARLY CHINESE REPUBLIC 1912 COMMEMORATIVE TEN CASH
EARLY CHINESE REPUBLIC 1914- ONE YUAN
EARLY CHINESE REPUBLIC 1927- ONE DOLLAR
EARLY CHINESE REPUBLIC 1932- ONE YUAN

The ones from Japan and Manchukuo are:
JAPAN- MEIJI ERA- 1869- ONE YEN
JAPAN- MEIJI ERA- 1869- ONE YEN
JAPAN- MEIJI ERA- 1883- ONE YEN
MANCHUKUO 1935- ONE QIAN

Edited by Erik Huang, 03 October 2005 - 07:59 AM.

[Kenneth]

You will probably get some information on this from a google search for Chinese coins. Some sites publish lists of prices, but they may not be current.
The basic Ching coins should not be fakes as the common ones are in plentiful supply. There are many many modern copies in traditional markets but they are just modern copies, and not fakes as they arent made to decieve any knowledgable collector. They have no fake alterations for age, and are uniform in size and appearance. They are mainly used for Feng Shui charms and such.
If you hold 10 such coins together and they all have the same circumference and diameter and surface lustre then they will likley be fakes. The real Ching coins should be minted in different cities or moulds and show size variation, as well as variation in the characters and the manchu writting on the reverse (I find difficulty in finding any two alike) and alterations with age. Some are very coppery bronze and poorly made also compared to the earlier dynasties coins.

Some Chinese coins can be worth a small fortune, but even Tang Kai Yuen coins are so cheap my father-in-law mentions using them like monopoly money for kids to play with when he was young (like 70 years ago).
Supply means a lot...the Song minted 10s of millions of coins a year. Rare types like devotional or gold/silver coins can be worth thousands. Han wu shu coins and the common types need not be faked though. They are availible in huge numbers and are worth very little to coin collectors individually.
There are ways to pick a fake however..and ways to identify a real coin. If yours is damaged or ugly then it is unlikely to be faked.
I will post some images of study piece coins shortly.

[Erik Huang]

The coins I mentioned are all silver coins.

They measure about 4cm in diameter (the types differ only by a few mm) and they are heavy.

You can look at the pictures here. These coins have been largely untouched since my father bought them from several Indonesian labourers who found them buried in a jar with other wetern coins and other valuables. Some western coins have been confirmed to be counterfeits.

Picture One
Picture Two
Picture Three
Picture Four

When cleaned, they revealed shiny silvery surfaces. Picture Five

You can look at the different types individually HERE (High Resolution Pictures)

I would be very glad if someone could enlighten me whether they are genuines or counterfeits. Thank you.

[Kenneth]

Hi Eric,
Even without looking at the coins the story about being found by labourers in a jar with other valuables is just the antique equivalent of the used car salesman's 'only one little old lady owner before you'.
There are often stories about 'this came from a tomb near Xian' or 'my grandfather found this on an archeaological site 50 years ago'. Unless you know the person well then any sales pitch like that should be disbelieved as a matter of course.
If any of the coins that we are supposed to believe were buried as valuables then turned out to be counterfeit then you are right to assume the worst of the whole lot.
Generally only a few cheap pieces might be real in amongst the fakes as this is what they call 'salting' a sample like shooting a shotgun catridge full of gold dust into a spot of earth a geologist then tests just to fake that there is worth in the land around it.

I dont know silver coins or 'modern' coins like this...but if the real examples are valuable at all then I simply wouldnt trust them and assume even the story behind them is false too. It is just the standard stuff.
In Chinese antiques it is said that cheating is just as accepted behaviour as it is to have rice with dinner.

Run them by a coin collectors club in your area or some internet enthusiast site since there will no doubt be somebody who can help.

[shawn]

they might be worth more, but not because they were the first. value is dependant on supply and demand.
historical interest rarely plays a role in this

I always thought that historical value would carry some good value in historical coins, but then again, supply and demand play an important part too