Posted 07/09/2012 1:15 pm
Welcome to the forum, andyski!
The Chinese "coin" is not really a coin in the sense of being money. It has no denomination.
The Chinese like to commemorate their history and culture by producing these types of medals and souvenir pieces.
Therefore, these pieces are not really fakes or fantasy coins which are meant to deceive people into thinking they are "real" coins.
The reverse side displays a dragon with 5-claws. The 5-claw dragon was a symbol of the emperor of China.
The four Chinese characters are bing chen ji nian (丙辰紀念) which translates "commemorating the year bing chen".
The year, in this case, is specified according to the traditional Chinese calendar which paired one of the "Ten Heavenly Stems" with one of the "Twelve Earthly Branches". The cycle repeated every 60 years.
In regard to the last emperors of China (Qing Dynasty 1644-1911), bing chen could represent the year 1676, 1736, 1796 or 1856.
The Jiaqing Emperor began his reign in the year 1796 so my "best guess" is that this piece is commemorating the reign of this emperor.
These historical/cultural medals and souvenirs are produced in large quantities and, as coinsnpaper has stated, can be obtained for a dollar or two.
Gary
The Chinese "coin" is not really a coin in the sense of being money. It has no denomination.
The Chinese like to commemorate their history and culture by producing these types of medals and souvenir pieces.
Therefore, these pieces are not really fakes or fantasy coins which are meant to deceive people into thinking they are "real" coins.
The reverse side displays a dragon with 5-claws. The 5-claw dragon was a symbol of the emperor of China.
The four Chinese characters are bing chen ji nian (丙辰紀念) which translates "commemorating the year bing chen".
The year, in this case, is specified according to the traditional Chinese calendar which paired one of the "Ten Heavenly Stems" with one of the "Twelve Earthly Branches". The cycle repeated every 60 years.
In regard to the last emperors of China (Qing Dynasty 1644-1911), bing chen could represent the year 1676, 1736, 1796 or 1856.
The Jiaqing Emperor began his reign in the year 1796 so my "best guess" is that this piece is commemorating the reign of this emperor.
These historical/cultural medals and souvenirs are produced in large quantities and, as coinsnpaper has stated, can be obtained for a dollar or two.
Gary
