Emperor Gao Zhong (1736-95), Cash (1754-60 AD), Hartill#22.203, KM#387.1

[Overlord]

I am just starting out with Chinese cash coins. Considering how tricky it is to judge authenticity for someone like me, I have decided to stick to common, cheaper types for the time being.

Here is the first one. Based on the characters and size, I think this is Hartill#22.204 (Emperor Gao Zhong, The Board of Revenue, type B). Please correct me if I have something wrong.

Mass=3.8 g
Diameter=24 mm

Obverse  Qian (Top) Long (Bottom) tong (Right) bao (Left)


Reverse Boo (Left) chiowan (Right)

[akona20]

The level of faking of Chinese coins is rather high and so is the possibility of unearthing major (and I mean huge) hoards is greater than anywhere else on earth.

I am heavily involved in China in a major way and knowing what I know I would never consider collecting Chinese coins of any era.

[weepio]

I agree on the coin , accept the fact I would go with number 22.203 (1746-1753) which has to my opinion more similarities than 22.204.

It is known that the Chinese forge about every coin they have made, even at the times they were made. It is sometimes very hard to see the difference between good and fake, even for the experts. But a fake coin made in 1012 is still a coin from 1012 to me, they were duplicated to use as a currency. Everybody collecting Chines coins has at least one or two fake coins in his/her collection. Even the "famous'' Schjoth had more than one fake coins in his collection, a work most western collectors used as a reference guide to there own collection before the book by David Hartill came along. I know there are better catalogues, but unfortunately they''re all in Chinese, it is the best we have.

[akona20]

Hio weepio,

It is nice o see a true expert comment. Having spent a long time in China and seeing the fake 'factories' at work at work first hand I guess I am over cautious.

[Figleaf]

a fake coin made in 1012 is still a coin from 1012 to me, they were duplicated to use as a currency.

That's easy to agree on. Like you, I am fond of contemporary fakes. However, we are rather faced with a flood of modern fakes. My greatest worry is that prestigious writers include modern fakes in their catalogues as "newly discovered varieties" (or even types.)

What coin collectors need is a sophisticated piece of software that can compare two pictures and spot the differences in the design, even when one of them is considerably more worn than the other. Any programmers in the room ... ?

Peter

[Overlord]

Thanks everyone.

[translateltd]

The level of faking of Chinese coins is rather high and so is the possibility of unearthing major (and I mean huge) hoards is greater than anywhere else on earth.

I am heavily involved in China in a major way and knowing what I know I would never consider collecting Chinese coins of any era.

I stopped adding to my Chinese collection a long time ago with similar concerns.