Large Mystery, Goldfields Amulet, Token , Cash Coin ? (Id: Chinese Charm)

It's not an actual coin. It is a type of Chinese charm known as a "coin-like charm", because the inscription on the obverse matches the inscription ona genuine coin. Specifically, the inscription is of the Kang XI emperor, who reigned back inthe 1600s. The charm is not likely that old, but a provable Goldfields provenance would probably see it's manufacture sometime in the 1800s. I'm not quite sure what the design on the back is supposed to be, it's very abstract; it is similar to the popular dragon-and-phoenix charms (Example on Zeno.ru), but I think it's actually supposed to be a bat.

However, I would be skeptical of the claim it's a goldfields find without some supporting evidence. A copper coin buried in Victoria for 150+ years would come up out of the ground looking rather green, not brown with a sandy orange "desert patina". This is more commonly encountered on the mass-produced kiln-fired replicas dating from the 1930s onwards.

I'm also not entirely sure what purpose such a charm would have served. Chinese miners took cash coins with them both for trade and for ritual purposes; larger charms such as these are usually attached to houses and usually belong "at home" with the family, rather than away in a foreign country. At least, I haven't heard of any other contemporary charms turning up on any of the goldfield sites anywhere in Australia.