I feel like a lot of people have been asking for help IDing Chinese cash coins lately, but here I am piling on. I'm mostly curious because most of these seem to have some age to them. Can you help me figure out what they are?
The very first appears to be a coin of Emperor Jen Tsung, who reigned from 1796-1820 AD in the Qing Dynasty. This is where I found some information:Calgary Coin They have a guide that you may find useful: Identification Guide If you go to the first link and scroll down a little bit, you can see one with a matching mint mark: "S-1501, 'BOO CHI.'"
The fourth one appears to be another from the Qing Dynasty. According to the Calgary Coin page for this coin, there are two types from emperor "Ch'ien-lung." There is the main type which was produced between 1736-1795 AD, and then there is the "Shan-lung commemorative" which features some modification to the the characters. The site states the second type is "thought to have been issued during the period from his abdication in 1795 to his death in 1799," but it seems this has not been verified yet. Judging off of the top character positioned at 12 o'clock on the obverse of your coin, you seem to have the second type, the "Shan-lung" issue. It looks like S-1463 that is shown on the site I linked.
Thanks for the help and the site. It's very useful and I bookmarked it. I identified the second one as Sheng Tsu and Kuang mint. Does that look right? I can't find the third one. I'm wondering if it's really Chinese or if it's from somewhere else. Or an earlier dynasty I didn't check yet.
I wonder if 3 is Te Tsung 1 cash? I thought it would be older since it looks so crude and worn, but maybe not.
The fifth (last) one looks like this Qing 1 cash from Guangxu, 1890-1895 (Hartill 22.1335; Y 190) https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6817.html Obverse: 光 通 寶 緒 Guangxu (Emperor) / Tongbao (circulating currency) Reverse: ᠪᠣᠣ ᡤᡠᠩ Boo Gung Only 1,059,253,000 minted!
They are all Qing, because they all have Manchu on the reverse. This is a nearly comprehensive set of them. The first is of Jiaqing (1796-1820), cast at Zhili. The second is Kangxi (1662-1722), cast at Guangdong. The third is Daoguang (1820-1850), cast at Zhejiang. The fourth is Qianlong (1736-1796), cast at the Board of Revenue in Beijing. It is not a Shan Lung issue, which is visible on the bottom character. The last one is Guangxu, minted at Guangdong in the 1890s. Unlike the others, it is struck.
All your coins are Qing dynasty. My tentative IDs (emperor IDs are solid, mint for #2 not so much): 1. Jiaqing (1796-1820), mint of Baoding in Zhili. Looks to be Hartill 22.555, issued 1796-1799. 2. Kangxi (1662-1722), mint is possibly Taiyuan in Shanxi, H.22.126, issued 1667-70. (I am not very confident on this mint ID.) 3. Daoguang (1821-1850), mint Hangzhou in Zhejiang, not sure of Hartill variety. 4. Qianlong (1736-1795), Board of Revenue mint in Beijing. Not sure of Hartill variety (there are lots of tiny differences in stroke formation that I'm not good at figuring out.) 5. Xuantong (1909-1912), mint Guangzhou (Canton) in Guangdong. Machine-struck 1909-1910, Hartill 22.1517. Hope this helps.
Thanks to everyone who responded. I see a few conflicting IDs, like on 5. But your help and the website help a great deal. I'll keep this website for the future. I'm much more interested in Chinese coins if I can tell what they are.
Thank you for correcting this! I knew that it had to do with the bottom character but could not quite tell from the image. I for some reason was thinking that the し in the top character was exclusive to Shan Lung. Thanks for reminding me about that.
These are some really great coins. I find them fascinating. Congratulations on having such a nice group of them! Last summer I spent some time working to identify the Hartill number of a Qianlong 1 cash I have. That was quite a trick because I don't actually have Hartill's book.
