Chinese Cash - Assistance Request (Again)

Lloyd

Hi guys, different layout this time which should avoid confusion.... any help greatly appreciated.

Coin #1 (Diameter approx 25mm)


Coin #2 (Diameter approx 23mm)


Coin #3 (Diameter approx 23mm)


Coin #4 (Diameter approx 23mm)


Coin #5 (Diameter approx 22mm)

satootoko

The symbol at the left on the first picture of each one is Chinese, but beyond that I can't help you much.

tbirde56

#1 reign of K'ang-Hsi (1662-1722), Board of Revenue mint.
#2 reign of Ch'ien-Lung (1736-95), Board of Public Works mint.
#3 reign of Ch'ien-Lung (1736-95), Board of Public Works mint.
#4 reign of Ch'ien-Lung (1736-95), Board of Revenue mint.
#5 same as 2, 3, or 4 (too worn to make out)
All these are of the more common types also.
I have a few Chinese cash that I've been given but due to the complexity and difficulty in identifying, etc I don't actively collect them. So, my i.d.'s may not be entirely correct.

sumnom

#5 is Ch'ien-lung, Metropolitan Coinage Service of the Board of Public Works. (Boo Yuwan)

The Boo Ciowan is the Metropolitan Coinage Service of the Board of Revenue.

Check out pages 367-8, 369 (entries 4472 and 4506)of Charles Hucker's A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China for an excellent summary of the histories of these agencies.

sumnom

Also, the script in the left images is Manchu, the script in the right images is Chinese.

sumnom

I'm changing my mind on the mint of #5. I think it is boo yun, not boo yuwan, thus making the coin a product of the Yunnanfu mint in Yunnan Province.

As I mentioned in the other thread, Krause says that mint name reads "boo yon" but it looks to me like it reads "boo yun" which would make far more sense as an abbreviation of the name of the province Yunnan.

And here is some trivia for you: in Manchu, "oo" is pronounced "ow" as in bow wow.