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Sword made from Chinese cash coins. Antique mall pickup
DNADave
Posts: 7,239 ✭✭✭✭✭
I was able to talk it down to 36.00. I know very little about Chinese cash coins, just a joke about a chicken standing on a goat house.
Is there any shot at a better coming coin being somewhere in there? Is this “real” in the sense that it came from wwii as trench art?
If it’s not authentic. I’m tempted to check out what’s in the handle
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No idea, but a great & interesting find.
I have seen other Chinese cash coin sculptures before but never owned one. I do not believe it is trench art, more likely folk art. This one is cool looking! I would leave it as is.
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That is cool...I'd leave it be and try and figure a way to hang it on the wall as a decoration without my husband noticing. (He tried to sneak a bike frame in as 'wall art' so, you know, retaliation
)
These "coin swords" are a commonly encountered Chinese object of fortune in the Daoist belief system, particularly noted at warding off evil; apparently, the evil spirits are lured towards the sword by the money, only to then be repelled far away by the sword. They are often hung over the bed. As to age, it certainly appears old - the cords which tie off the ends of the handle are supposed to be bright red, but on this sword it has faded with age. Modern ones that you'd buy in the West from Feng Shui shops are often made of replica cash coins, but older swords are more usually made of genuine items.
It was apparently considered more effective as a talisman if all of the coins had the same emperor's name on them, rather than being a mix of coins, and all the coins on this sword appear to be from the reign of the Shun Zhi emperor (1644-1661). I can't speak to whether or not the coins are all genuine, but they may be so. The way the handle-coins are carefully arranged, with the smallest at the ends and the largest in the middle, speaks to me of the variable sizes one finds in actual genuine coins of the period, so that is a hopeful sign.
Despite being so old, the coins themselves (assuming they are indeed genuine) are nevertheless not worth much, unless there happens to be a rare mintmark or some such in the group. It is probably still worth much more as an intact sword than as a disassembled pile of coins.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.
Thank you for such a considered response.
I’m surprised to learn those may be 1600s coins. Itll stay together
I agree - not WWII or trench art (although a vet could have brought it back).
As long as it is vintage and not modern replicas (looks legit), I'd keep it as is. Well worth what you paid as a display item for a coin collector.
A little funky for my taste but I do like the way someone uses the holes to link them into shapes. I've seen many human figure coin pieces. Enjoy. Peace Roy
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