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Fake Chinese Cash? I Hope Not!

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turtlefoot's Avatar
United States
182 Posts
 Posted 08/03/2016  6:37 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add turtlefoot to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
I am getting concerned about a decent portion of my Chinese Cash collection. I am concerned that 50+ pieces in my collection might be fake! I don't have a lot in them so it is not a big financial loss, if they are.

Anyway, I was playing around with a very strong magnet showing my daughter how some of her world coins would stick to it. She asked about mine and I told her that they were of another metal and would not. I pulled one out to show her and it stuck!

I then went through the "treasure chest" that has all of my very common, loose cash and 50+ stick. None of them stick to a regular refrigerator magnet though, just the very strong specialty magnet. They look good too. I am not sure what to think.

Any input is appreciated. The attached pic is of the "Shan Lung" commemorative that stuck to the magnet for my daughter. It is just one of many.



Fake-Chinese-Cash?--I-Hope-Not!

Fake-Chinese-Cash?--I-Hope-Not!
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Sap's Avatar
Australia
16826 Posts
 Posted 08/03/2016  8:38 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Sap to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Your coin appears genuine to me. This is perfectly normal. A lot of alloys that "aren't magnetic" in everyday observation (i.e. they won't stick to a fridge magnet) will stick to a rare earth supermagnet.

The Chinese made their cash coins out of mostly copper, but what is left over from the "mostly" could be anything. Some Chinese coins are naturally high in nickel (even though they lacked the technology to identify and separate it) while others have simply been diluted with a small amount of iron; such alloys are likely to be very weakly paramagnetic. Even some alloys that contain no iron, cobalt or nickel can be very weakly paramagnetic, and thus stick to a very, very strong magnet.

I remember having the same "ooh, wow" moment when I passed a supermagnet over my Ancient Roman coin collection, and a few of them stuck. Particularly the "late roman bronzes".

Supermagnets are also great for observing diamagnetism, since they are strong enough for diamagnetic effects to become visible. Silver coins are an excellent way to demonstrate this. Take a large silver coin, and pass a supermagnet back and forth across it. The coin won't "stick", in the usual sense of a nail sticking to a magnet, but the silver will seem to "grip" onto the magnet as you move it, resisting you moving the magnet. And the faster you try to move it, the stronger it seems to "push back". This effect is known as eddy current braking.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Finn235's Avatar
United States
6130 Posts
 Posted 08/03/2016  10:31 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Finn235 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Awesome explanation, Sap!

It is worth noting that Qianlong cash were produced longer than any other cash in Chinese history (the munts purportedly kept making them after he abdicated in favor of his son) and are probably tied with the wu zhu for the title of most common coin made prior to 1900. Naturally, if someone in say Indonesia or Vietnam wants to make a sub-par imitation, Qianlong would of course be the logical choice.
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United States
1913 Posts
 Posted 08/04/2016  02:03 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Albert to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
There are a number of videos on YouTube regarding coins and magnets. Some are pretty interesting with Chinese coins.
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turtlefoot's Avatar
United States
182 Posts
 Posted 08/04/2016  04:44 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add turtlefoot to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks all for the help on this. I will have to look up the Youtube videos after work.

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