Chinese coins are a whole new area for me. I’ve been having fun identifying a 10 Cash coin I won in a (Vancouver) North Shore Numismatic Society auction. Mine is in VF condition with abrasion to the raised surfaces and a prominent scratch.
The image below is a 1906 10 Cash from Yunnan-Szechuan in XF grade. with a value of $150. Y# 10w.
I really like the stylized dragon! A Tai Ch’ing Ti Kuo Dragon.
This cash coin handily tells us english speakers that it is a Copper Coin.
It’s Chi’ing dynasty or Manchu China. The Emperor is Kuang-hsü who decreed in 1905 a unified copper coinage and that all mints were to use the same obverse and reverse designs. There was to be only the central mintmark to identify the province.
Copyright 2015 Bob Reis http://www.anythinganywhere.com/
The year is a Cyclical Date. The 60 year repeating cycle used in China. There’s a very useful table in Krause to identify the characters.
Thank you Krause 2012 Standard Catalog of ® 1901-2000 39th Edition WORLD COINS and they tell us this table has been adapted from Chinese Bank Notes by Ward Smith and Brian Matravers
The 2 character provincial mintmark in the centre indicates the provinces of YUNNAN and SZECHUAN both.
A google search reveals that there are forgeries of this coin about!
Here’s the real dragon who appears to be breathing fire:
Copyright 2015 Bob Reis
~ Julian Ticehurst
First published on coinsofplanetearth.com
