trade dollar chop mark translation - edited

LanceNewmanOCC

.
a topic i do not recall seeing a single comment about. ive seen it asked a couple times but don't ever recall posting an answer.

a link or post reference would be interesting.

searched this forum and google and nada?

edited to add

you guys are funny.

has anyone publicly translated the known chop marks and/or tracked them to specific merchants?
.

MsMorrisine

what are you talking about? chop marks?

ms70

A chart would be VERY interesting.

keets

Lance, this crystal clear question comes across like mud. can you explain better?

messydesk

I searched for "trade dollar symbol translation" and all I got was this thread.

jmlanzaf

Chopmarked Coins: A History; the silver coins used in China 1600-1935 by Colin James Gullberg

sparky64

When I first read the question I thought he was talking about the symbolism of the design but now I'm not so sure.
In case I'm right, this is from Coinfacts and interesting:

LanceNewmanOCC

@jmlanzaf said:
Chopmarked Coins: A History; the silver coins used in China 1600-1935 by Colin James Gullberg

yes.

"no chopmark actually identified a person or business." - ouch
.

OGDan

My latest lockdown hobby has been learning Chinese characters so as to interpret the meaning of the chops on coins. I posted a few translations in the Chopmarked seated half thread a few weeks back.

Is that what you mean?

LanceNewmanOCC

@OriginalDan said:
My latest lockdown hobby has been learning Chinese characters so as to interpret the meaning of the chops on coins. I posted a few translations in the Chopmarked seated half thread a few weeks back.

Is that what you mean?

OGDan

Here you go @LanceNewmanOCC

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/12608158#Comment_12608158

JBK

It's all Greek to me.

ricko

I have the Rose book on chops... I should get the Gullberg book as well....Cheers, RickO

DDR

The Colin Gulberg book is a great reference. As well, the Chopmark Collectors Club has a glossery of all known chopmarks with the literal translation, when possible.

DDR

I am told that the reverse chopmark on this coin is that of the Mao Sheng Bank, a bank in Hong Kong and (possibly) Shanghai. I can't verify that this information is true. Looking at my notes on this coin, I believe the information may have come from a previous owner of the coin.

Jimnight

I was never into this stuff.

ChopmarkedTrades

As has been mentioned, very few chops can actually be tied to a specific contemporary merchant or similar source. A few are composed of the name of the specific merchant, but these are very much a minority. Most are just generic characters that may have been tied to specific sources on a local level, but to my knowledge none of that information was preserved.

Crypto

@ChopmarkedTrades said:
As has been mentioned, very few chops can actually be tied to a specific contemporary merchant or similar source. A few are composed of the name of the specific merchant, but these are very much a minority. Most are just generic characters that may have been tied to specific sources on a local level, but to my knowledge none of that information was preserved.

It is amazing how the great leap forward basically erased all history of the multi-century practice form the record. Records, inventories and the actual tools them self are all gone less than 100 years ago.

OGDan

@Crypto said:

@ChopmarkedTrades said:
As has been mentioned, very few chops can actually be tied to a specific contemporary merchant or similar source. A few are composed of the name of the specific merchant, but these are very much a minority. Most are just generic characters that may have been tied to specific sources on a local level, but to my knowledge none of that information was preserved.

It is amazing how the great leap forward basically erased all history of the multi-century practice form the record. Records, inventories and the actual tools them self are all gone less than 100 years ago.

That hasn’t stopped me from trying. I still hold on to the belief that there’s information and/or chop tools that have survived. I have people actively looking, nothing has turned up so far.

WillieBoyd2

A similar mark has been used in India for centuries on silver coins which is called a "shroff" mark.

A "shroff" is a local name for a money-changer or silver coin expert and the mark is a punch made in the coin to see if it is silver or plated.

Mughal Rupee Shah Jahan Agra AH 1038 (AD 1629) First year
Silver, 22 mm, 10:47 gm, KM 222.1
Several "shroff" marks appear as holes which do not go all the way through the coin.

A chop-mark may have a similar use and such a chop-mark would not have to mean anything.

LanceNewmanOCC

thanks for the great references thus far!