Old Chinese Coin, maybe 1889-1890? Any ideas? Found in Illinois!

[justdigging50]

I found this coin in a forest preserve grove in IL. The coin was about six to seven inches deep. I found a web site and I think the coin is a machine struck coin. Picture is near bottom of web page, it's under modern coins (after AD 1644). http://www.calgarycoin.com/reference/china/china8.htmWhat do you guys think? Thanks for looking. HH

 

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[Dirt fishing Wolf]

Neat coin Ed, it must be old, you've been diggin some oldies this year.

 

[jerryfromCA]

Hello
Kuang Hsu one cash 1875-1908. I couldn't find it in my Chinese ID Book until I realized you were displaying the four character face upside down. I was killing myself trying to find it.

 

[xymox]

justdigging i love tnet i hit that calgary/coin and identified the last chines coin i dug as emperor sheng tsu . it was the coin in the first line right side. my coin was lost in 1881 i never looked it up thanks for the help. was jerryfromca saying your coin was minted between 1875-1908. some info will claim the coins are more of a keep sake. but i read in nevada at some time it was legal to pay chines workers with chines coins

 

[terpfan]

Very nice find. Since I started metal detecting I've found three Chinese cash coins and each coin has been exactly the same as yours. Thanks to other TNETers, I found that the coins were minted between 1889 and 1908. The thing that surprised me was how paper-thin the coins are. The photos made me assume that Chinese cash coins are thick like our coinage, but this certainly isn't the case!

 

[montepollock]

In 30 years Iv,e found 3 different cash coins the oldest tentably ID,ed as being C1695-1715
These were all found near railroad tracks indicating the owners probably immigrant labor.
Imagine a coin being carried thousands of miles into a foreign land then finding Your lifes savings is worthless...
well imagination is Why I became a relic hunter...
Oh and one of the cash coin s I found had a second small hole punched in with a square nail to be worn as jewelry, I guess.
Happy Hunting,Mont

 

[hikeinmts]

That is one of the last issues of Chinese holed coins. And, they are really really thin......inflationary tactic......a gimic for the
government to make money.
But, they weren't always that way. I hunt in S. Korea, and have found several hundred Chinese coins, dating from about 1,000 a.d. to the 1890's. (Never found that particular coin you found.)
Lots of variations, and some very small thin ones, that were made by pretenders to the throne, or throne-grabbers.
Also, there are some very very thick ones......like a sandwich...two or three normal thicknesses thick. All in all, very interesting
to find, and some of the older ones are quite valuable.
To find one in the States is nice. Good hunting.

 

[ivan salis]

the chinese "coolie" rail road laborers carried the "cash coins" not as money but as "good luck" tokens and remberance tokens from "home" often these coins are found at or near rail tracks or areas where the workers lived / stayed at. -- while of low fiscal value normally --they are a interesting find in my veiw .

 

[kimsdad]

Hey Ed, good to see you still getting out!

Nice find!!!

That day I first met ya at that city park, I found one like it around 9 inches deep not far from the lagoon.

Thanks for the reference link!