Please help identify Chinese coin with square hole

[jaybird10e]

Found this today. It was broken when i dug it. It was a few inches down on an old driveway. Tried to identify it, but found many couns that looked close. Also trying to figure out how old it is. Thanks in advance!

 

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[midnightskirmish]

Chinese coin

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[CASPER-2]

mostly brought over by the barrels full and were used as currency in the 1800s in CALIF. by the Chinese working on the railroads and mining
they had their own little towns and would use them amongst them - then they started earning US currency and those coins became worthless
so they decided to sell them as good luck coins and make jewelry out of them and they spread slowly across america

 

[WannaDig3687]

Thanks for sharing. I inherited a few of these. Now I know more about them,too. Cool historical find!

 

[Mackaydon]

To start the ID process of your coin, you may wish to turn it 180 degrees on the side of the coin that has four characters so that the 'Bao' (meaning 'treasure') character is on the left of the square. The 'Tong' (meaning 'circulating') character will then be on the right. Together they state that this is a coin and that it should circulate freely.

While I tend to my grandson now, others may complete the ID; otherwise, I get back to it shortly.
Don......

 

[Beshires1]

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China Qing Dynasty Qian Long Tong Bao 1736 to 1795
China Qing Dynasty Qian Long Tong Bao 1736 to 1795

This is an old Chinese cash coin from the Qing (Ch'ing) Dynasty (1644-1911), Emperor Ch'ien Lung (Gao Zong), (1736-1795). It has a broad rim and is from the Hangzhou, Zhejiang mint. The Chinese characters on the front read 'Qian Long Tong Bao'. The Manchu characters on the back vary by mint. On our coin they read 'Boo Je', corresponding to the Hangzhou in the province of Zhejiang - a rare mint. The most common mints are 'Boo Yuwan', the 'Board of Public Works' mint in Beijing, and 'Boo Chiowan' or the 'Board of Public Revenue' mint, also in Beijing. There are many other smaller provincial mints, the coins from which are generally more valuable. It is beyond the scope of CoinQuest to list and evaluate all these varieties. A good coin catalog will tell you much more!

The coin in our primary picture is from Noble Numismatics in Australia. This particular coin is in great shape and sold for 180 AUD (about $160 US dollars) in a 2009 auction.

Some coins of rare mints in superb condition can reach as high as $1000, but most coins are heavily worn and carry values between $2 and $10.

In our secondary picture we have included the qian long tong bao side of Melville's coin. He sent us this picture. You can see it is in rough shape compared to the Noble specimen. Melville's coin would probably sell for about $10 to $20 US dollars.

 

[Mackaydon]

Also turn the two character sided coin 180 degrees. This will put the 'Boo' character (meaning 'treasure' in Manchu script) on the left side. The character on the right side would then represent the name of the mint.
Don......

 

[Mackaydon]

To my eyes, your coin resembles this one:

Emperor JEN TSUNG
AD 1796-1820

Reign title: CHAI-CH'ING, AD 1796-1820
Don.......

 

[HuntinDog]

Both of you images are upside down.
You can find your Chinese Cash Coin here.
It is in the second row at the far right.
Click on the image and it will take you to the description.
The obverse of your coin reads, top to bottom-left to right
Chai / Ch'ing / Tung / Pao
Your reverse of the coin (with two characters) is
"BOO FU" (Fukien mint). The manchurian mint name translates to Fu as well.

Dynasty: Ch'ing (1644 - 1911 a.d.)
Emperor: Jen Tsung (1796-1820 a.d.)
Reign Title: Chia Ch'ing (1796-1820 a.d.)This would be the time period of production


coins of china, the Ch'ing Dynasty

 

[jaybird10e]

Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge and research. WOW....so thats the oldest coin I have ever found (Beats my 1892 Indian Head by a couple years...lol.). Its a bummer it's broken...but a cool find none the less.