Cash coin experts - help!

satootoko · November 25, 2004 8:19AM

I know, I know - the pictures need to be rotated, but I'm not the one who has the coin.

I'm told the metal appears to be cast iron. Any thoughts on its ID?

sumnom · November 25, 2004 8:30AM

Well, well, well...

Ummm....

err.....

I don't know what it is. I would guess that it is a token but beyond that I do not know.

canadiancoinguy · November 25, 2004 8:42AM

I'm thinking struck iron token.

sumnom · November 26, 2004 6:58AM

It does look struck.

santelia · November 26, 2004 9:51PM

My first guess is a Chinese trade token, given the base metal, and the fact there is no English on it. I know that there were a number of Shanghai companies that issued tokens; all of them are scarce.

My second guess (emphasis on guess) is that it might be a chinese-american gambling token, although I can't read any denominations. Look at this and this for Chinese examples. Look here for a short history on Chinese American tokens (Lots of Pop-Ups!) link.

Mark

satootoko · November 28, 2004 12:27AM

Thanks for the help guys.

I'm leaning toward the trade token theory. The lack of a western-style number argues against the piece being a Chinese-American gambling token.

sumnom · November 28, 2004 3:08AM

The lack of a western-style number argues against the piece being a Chinese-American gambling token.

Why?

sumnom · November 28, 2004 3:22AM

I read the token link and I see why you have suggested that this is not likely to be a Chinese-American token. After reading that page, I would suggest that you all take it with few pounds of salt. The parts on Chinese immigration to the US and the nature of Chinese characters are not especially accurate and even border on disinformation. The great beauty of the internet is that anyone can post anyhting they want but the great flaw of the internet is that anyone can post anything they want.

The legend on the right hand image says something along the lines of "seed money." Does that make sense to anyone? The left image is a little too murky for me to read. I can make out two characters but the remaining two are elusive.

sumnom · November 28, 2004 3:47AM

Hello again.

I am away from home and only have a little dictionary so working through this is a little tough. I think I have got all four characters from the left image but I am still trying to make sense of them together. I am beginning to suspect that this may be a temple token. I will keep chewing on this....

sumnom · November 28, 2004 3:58AM

I will be home in a few days and then I will have access to some more powerful dictionaries. The more I think about this, the more I think this may be a temple token. The character at 9 o'clock (really 12 o'clock) in the left image is hard for me to read but if it is what I think it is, it may be a reference to offerings before a Buddha, but that is still a guess based on a guess. I know we have several people here who can read Chinese. What do you all think?

satootoko · November 28, 2004 10:04AM

<< <i>The legend on the right hand image says something along the lines of "seed money." Does that make sense to anyone? >>

The original carved pieces from which casting molds are taken are sometimes referred to as "seed" coins or money, but it wouldn't make sense to actually put that legend on the coin, as it would be copied onto all the coins derived from that piece.

tbirde56 · November 28, 2004 10:50AM

The original thread Link.

sumnom · November 28, 2004 4:25PM

Well Satootoko, it does say "seed money" but it is clearly not a "seed coin" in the sense that you mentioned. The character for "seed" can also mean "to plant" among other things. We need to think flexibly here. People on the board have mentioned temple tokens before. Maybe someone who knows something about them will chime in?

Ricke · December 14, 2008 1:28PM

well, here it is, sumnom... whew!

Four years ago... time passes faster as the years go by.

sumnom · December 14, 2008 5:20PM

Time sure does fly! I see that I didn't say anything too radically different. The first time around I couldn't make the legends out.

Ricke · December 15, 2008 1:28AM

Yeah, the photo is much cleaner than the scan. When I first posted this on CoinTalk, I only had the ability to scan.

Cash coin experts - help!

Comments