No Clue

Unit91

Can anyone ID this coin/token?

harasha

This is an easy one. The top view is actually the reverse and shows the tell-tale Manchu script.
The lower view, upside down, has the very distinctive characters for the Qian Long emperor. 1736 - 1796.
The mint, named on the reverse, appears to be the Bao Quan mint. According to Google, this is Ezhou, modern-day Wuchang District, Hubei, China.

from Google: qián lóng tōng bǎo; is an inscription used on cash coins produced under the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty.

Unit91

Thanks very much. I've had this coin since childhood and have no idea how or when I came to possess it.

syl

I collect pottery and porcelain from the same dynasty, but I've always seen and referred to it/them as Chien-lung pieces, same time period 1736-1796. Must be different spellings for different collectors

Sapyx

@syl said:
I collect pottery and porcelain from the same dynasty, but I've always seen and referred to it/them as Chien-lung pieces, same time period 1736-1796. Must be different spellings for different collectors

It's the same translation of two Chinese characters (乾 隆), written using two different ways of writing Chinese using the Western alphabet. "Ch'ien Lung" is written using the older Wade-Giles system of Romanization, which is still preferred on Taiwan and in the Chinese diaspora in Western countries. "Qian Long" is the Romanization of the same Chinese characters but written using the Pinyin system, which is preferred by the current mainland regime.

For coin collectors, older reference books (including the Krause catalogues) use Wade-Giles, while newer books (such as Hartill) use Pinyin.

Unit91

Can't find Bao Quan mint. Is there another spelling /name for it?

harasha

Check the Numista entry for Bao Quan.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/mint.php?id=4219

Unit91

OK folks......still confused. Can you tell me when this coin was minted? I've got Qian Long emperor. 1736 - 1796, but Numista has different dates, so I am totally confused.

Sapyx

The coin was minted by the Board of Revenue mint, in Beijing.

These coins do not bear a date, or any direct indication of year of issue. A study of the calligraphy can narrow down the date range slightly, and can give an indication of which branch mint within the Board of Revenue mint made it.

The Numista page you want for this coin is here: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1133.html