Need Help With A Kwang Tung Silver Dollar | Replica

Thanks WD1040, It did not pass the magnet test. But now I'm curious as to what it actual says on the coin.

A friend brought this back from China along with a 1913 and 1920 Silver 5 Yuan coins, at least they pass all the test for silver

I can help you with reading it

The words at the top are Manchu script. Long story, but in the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus (a race) took over power in China, who were mostly ethnically Han. They had their own culture and alphabet, so the Manchus used that in combination of written Chinese. You can read more on that on wikipedia.

The 4 large characters, going from 12 o clock to 6, 3, 9 says "Da Qing Ying Bi" or Great Qing Silver Coin

The character in the middle says "Ji" for Jilin Province.

The two characters on the very sides, from right to left say "Wu Shen" which according to the Chinese sexagenary calendar means the 45th year of the cycle.

The 4 characters at the bottom say "Ku ping yi liang" or Vault weight one tael. It's hard to clearly explain kuping, so go ahead and google that.




Peter is correct. I've recently picked up 2 fakes that are some alloy of silver and cupronickle. They aren't magnetic, but the weights are off. Qing Dynasty silver should be around 28 grams if I remember...