Mystery Chinese Coin To Identify - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 1,057
jeffbuckes Pillar of the Community United States 837 Posts	Posted 02/23/2019 10:02 am My friend recently inherited a bag of Asian coins. She's of Chinese descent so she was able to identify most of them herself. But there was one coin that confused her. It's an older silver coin, about the size of a US quarter, with Chinese characters. I asked if there were any holes in the middle like some Chinese coins, but she said no. The largest character on the coin is #37329; / jin which is is Chinese for "gold". But why would a silver coin have the word for gold on it? I wonder if this is a token or medal, but she said everything else was a coin. This is really all I know about the coin and it's eating me up. Any idea? PS: I don't have any pics yet because she told me about the coins last night and they're in a bag at her mother's house in a different state. She's going to take pics next time she goes home but that won't be for a few weeks. Oh, I can't wait. Report this Post to the Staff

Spence Moderator United States 34398 Posts	Posted 02/23/2019 3:06 pm Quote: But why would a silver coin have the word for gold on it? Just a pure guess here: because it is a fake. I'll be interested in seeing the pics when you can post them. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
Keith67 Pillar of the Community United States 6529 Posts	Posted 02/23/2019 3:22 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Albert Pillar of the Community United States 1913 Posts	Posted 02/23/2019 3:51 pm Since we have no pictures, it may not be a coin at all. It could be a charm. And if so then what is said here to be the word "Gold" could have an entirely different meaning. Report this Post to the Staff
jeffbuckes Pillar of the Community United States 837 Posts	Posted 02/23/2019 9:02 pm Solved! Turns out the "coin" is a Japanes pachinko token. The Japanes character "kane" ("money") is very similar to the Chinese word "jin" ("gold"). The tokens are not silver and the thing has no value. Here's a photo: Report this Post to the Staff
Albert Pillar of the Community United States 1913 Posts	Posted 02/23/2019 9:25 pm Nice piece of detective work. I would have had to wait for photos. I guess the "with Chinese characters" sort of misled me. Report this Post to the Staff
jeffbuckes Pillar of the Community United States 837 Posts	Posted 02/23/2019 10:01 pm Perhaps this graphic will explain our confusion... You'll see that the characters are very similar. I think it was an interesting lesson! PS: If anyone here is fluent in Chinese / Japanese feel free to comment! Report this Post to the Staff
Albert Pillar of the Community United States 1913 Posts	Posted 02/23/2019 10:10 pm Not fluent, but I can say the same symbol is found on other items like charms, amulets and elsewhere, and the word does not always translate to mean "Gold". Report this Post to the Staff
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