Chinese Coin Help!!

[mama's buoy]

Hi there! need some help on some chinese coins... found these the other day at the park...
The 1st one... I think it's an emperor Chien-Lung dated between 1736-1795... not entirely sure. I find it difficult to figure these coins out and was hoping someone else had more experience...




The second coin is larger than the first... Could be an Emperor Qianlong dated between 1735-1795




the coins came from my brother's house... and a park about 500' from my brother's house in Ohio. It's a very small old town with an underground railroad and houses from the early 1800s. I'm unsure about how these coins got to where they were. Perhaps gifts from soldiers to their kids? no clue! Very cool to find though!

Thanks for any help!

Jeremy

 

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[Noah_D]

What part of Ohio you from? I'm from the northeast and there was a lot of underground railroad activity near me as well, just curious. Welcome to the forum.

 

[A2coins]

Welcome from MI someone will IDthose it takes a little time sounds like a cool hunting spot

 

[mama's buoy]

Hey Noah, I'm from the Madison/Geneva area actually; how about you?

 

[port ewen ace]

worth abooooot $2-3 on Ebay. Google has plenty of ID sites

 

[Yang Hao]

Actually they are both Qianlong coins. One of the confusing parts in the identification process is the way the characters are translated from Mandarin Chinese. Using your coins as examples, Chien-Lung (also written as Ch’ien-lung) is the Wade Giles romanization. Qianlong is the pinyin pronunciation. When I describe coins or other chinese items on the treasure net site I use the pinyin system which is widely used now when typing out characters on computers and phones.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pinyin-romanization
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wade-Giles-romanization

 

[Noah_D]

Wow, two nice 1700s coins right here in Ohio! Those would look cool in a display case. Congrats.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the great finds !

I've also found several different old Chinese coins from the 1700 & 1800's here in Ohio.
I think I found one exactly like yours last week - (a Qianlong - 1736 to 1795) - near an old one room School House site in the woods.

There are a few sites you can use to ID these coins - just Google - "Dating Chinese Coins" and match the characters on your coin to the photo's.

Also, because these coins had / have next to no value they were often used as decorations on items like sewing baskets back in the 1930's - 1950's era.

I would think the only way you would be able to find a real "dropped" Chinese coin would be to go out West where the Chinese worked on building the Railroads.

Here's a photo's of the coins on a sewing basket circa - 1930's.

Good Hunting !

 

[mama's buoy]

thank you so much for the reply, Yang Hao! I appreciate your insight!

 

[mama's buoy]

Right, I found it interesting that these aren't worth anything as they're so old. Pretty cool picture of the basket! Thanks for the picture, I had no idea that's what they were used for sometimes!

 

[Coinstar magnet]

Ah perhaps mine were once attached to a basket...I found 4 Chinese coins 2 to 3 inches underground in front of a house in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighbor...the house looks to be early 1900's. Whoops I think I only posted 2 of the 4 coins...duplicate photos....sorry...I was told they were no older than 1795...6 dynasty Quing....

 

[Red-Coat]

These things turn up all over the place where there is or was Chinese community. They're often used as good luck charms and sometimes assembled into more elaborate items given as gifts to bring good fortune. Here's a 'money sword' used for that purpose, outta my collection:

 

[steelheadwill]

Both of your coins are EZ to id (for cast chinese coinage)
pun. The top symbol resembles a stylized ez.
Congrats on orienting them correctly, sometimes it's more difficult.
Emperor KAO TSUNG
AD 1736-1795

reign title: CH'IEN-LUNG, AD 1736-1795

 

[steelheadwill]

I think this is yours @Coinstar magnet
interesting that its also from the ruler chen lung as the OPs coin, yours is a commemorative

"There are two basic series to the coins of Ch'ien-lung. The primary series has the regular Ch'ien-lung inscription, produced at many mints throughout his reign. The second type is referred to as the Shan-lung commemorative issue, with two upright strokes added to the bottom of the character "Lung", and is thought to have been issued during the period from his abdication in 1795 to his death in 1799."
courtesy of calgary coin.

Ah perhaps mine were once attached to a basket...I found 4 Chinese coins 2 to 3 inches underground in front of a house in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighbor...the house looks to be early 1900's. Whoops I think I only posted 2 of the 4 coins...duplicate photos....sorry...I was told they were no older than 1795...6 dynasty Quing....