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Need helping identifying.
StilloesEmporium
Posts: 73 ✭
I have tried researching this item and have found similar items but with different lettering. Can't find the same exact one. Any help with identifying this item would be greatly appreciated, thanks!!
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Japan. Maybe 5 Bu?
Edited to say I don’t think such a coin exists, so that’s wrong. I’ll keep working on it. Not an expert on pre-modern Japanese coinage.
Looks like a counterfeit Annam (Vietnam) silver bar
How can you tell if it is counterfeit? Would I have to test it to see if it is silver or not? I am very new at all of this and curious to know more!
Ah yes, counterfeit, that explains why the characters are drawn wrong.
Here is a genuine 5 Tien silver bar from a different emperor.
Are there any other ways to tell that it is counterfeit? I tested it out with a magnet and it was not magnetic. Just curious to know more.
Can you take specific gravity?
I am not certain it is fake, I don’t handle bars of Annam with any frequency. I am significantly more familiar with the coinage than the bars. However, the quality of the metal and the way the characters are formed seemed too perfect and mechanical in nature to be genuine.
Note, I am not Asian and am certainly no expert on Kanji, though I do have some experience with writing Kanji and using a Kanji dictionary (for Japanese).
I don't think a person who can write Chinese characters makes this mistake with the strokes. Hopefully someone else can chime in.
Improper character:
Proper character:
Maybe I'm wrong though because some of the other characters look good.
Show it to an expert.
Maybe this will help?
Or if you put the Chinese characters into Google in quotes:
"内帑银五钱" or "同慶生造" (The first one brings up some more of these ingots.)
You have been so helpful! Thank you for all the time and research you have put into answering my questions. I truly appreciate it! I will probably have to take it an expert to verify!
Here's a side view of the bar, I don't know if that makes a difference or not in helping with it's identification. Thanks for everyone's help!
I've actually never seen one of these in person, so the side view is cool looking. The design inhibits shaving! Lovely piece. I hope it's genuine.
Also, it weighs 21.6 grams