Posted 01/31/2024 8:35 pm
There are genuine cash coins with the "Tian Ce Fu Bao" legend, but they are (a) very rare, from the anarchistic period of Chinese history known as the "Five Dynasties Ten Kingdoms" period, over a thousand years ago, and (b) are almost always made of iron, not bronze. 1000 year old iron coins are always very rusty and corroded; Here's an example on zeno.ru. Just a few bronze examples of the coin are known; Here's one in the Shanghai Museum collection.
It is extremely unlikely that an exceptionally rare coin would just turn up randomly somewhere outside of China; especially given the Chinese traditional practice of producing amulets and charms replicating old coin designs, it is far more likely that your piece is a modern copy. Your piece shows evidence of casting, as one would expect of any cash coin since they were all cast; however, this evidence is also seen on the high points of the coin, which were traditionally sanded smooth.It is safe to conclude that your coin is, therefore, a charm or amulet, of much more recent manufacture.
It is extremely unlikely that an exceptionally rare coin would just turn up randomly somewhere outside of China; especially given the Chinese traditional practice of producing amulets and charms replicating old coin designs, it is far more likely that your piece is a modern copy. Your piece shows evidence of casting, as one would expect of any cash coin since they were all cast; however, this evidence is also seen on the high points of the coin, which were traditionally sanded smooth.It is safe to conclude that your coin is, therefore, a charm or amulet, of much more recent manufacture.
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
