Comments on: Fake Kwang-Tung dollar: a basic case study

By: Dragon Dollar

Dragon Dollar — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 19:01:22 +0000

Hello, the Y14 1908 Imperial was made at the Tientsin mint which had the most exacting standards of all China at the time. The coins were made without any variety and the diameter was always 39mm. Your coin is most likely a fake with a slightly larger diameter to have the proper weight despite a lower silver content (or different alloy altogether).

By: 007 panda

007 panda — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 02:56:16 +0000

I have noticed that different 1 yuan dragons have different weights as well. Was there also variance in the diameter as well? I know republic China coins are listed as 39mm, but I can’t find documented specs for the empire dragon coins. In particular I am asking about a 1908 chingkiang dollar y14.diameter is 39,5mm and thickness is 2.5mm. I am a bit suspicious of this and was looking for a second opinion.

By: Dragon Dollar

Dragon Dollar — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 11:31:38 +0000

Hello, I’m happy that my little blog was useful to you! However, please be cautious when buying older coins and antiques in Beijing. At this point in time, it has become very unlikely, even in remote villages in China, to find a seller who “does not know what he has”. The magnet test is not the be-all, end-all of fake detection and is only efficient at rejecting the cruder kind of fakes. Very beautiful, silver made replica coins can be bought for about 300 yuan at the Bao Guo Si market. The 10 rmb sticker price is the common price for copper/nickel/zinc fakes, which are only magnetic if their nickel content is too high. Since you live in Beijing, you should try going to the Madian market if you are interested in buying genuine coins. A decent looking Chihli dollar or 1911 imperial dollar costs about 1500 to 2000 rmb, and a common type of Yuan Shih Kai dollar between 600 and 800 rmb. Anything cheaper is very likely to be fake.

By: John Maynard

John Maynard — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 17:49:52 +0000

Also I might add, the fake coins are really tinny looking and feel much lighter and are much more thinner looking than the others.

By: John Maynard

John Maynard — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 17:37:07 +0000

I am having a blast here on your site! I just started collecting chinese coins yesterday and have acquired 31 of the silver dollars. 19 of the Yuan Shi Kai half dollars, 4 were Giorgi, 4 were 8 characters on the front and two were fake! The others look like originals of the same. I also picked up a couple of the provinces coins, one being the Kwang Tung province as mentioned and the other one is Kiang Nan province, My Kwang Tung was fake and the other I believe isn’t, because I took a magnet to all of them and it wasn’t attracted. But I did end up all together getting 6 coins fake coins doing this. Many which are listed for 200 to 500 each. Luckily, I live in Beijing and found a corner Antiques store with thousands of coins for sale, plus boxes of paper money of every type. I don’t think he knows what he has. I only pay him 10rmb each, which is about $1.50 each. Nice to learn the Magnet trick! I think my magnet and I will be going back to his shop as soon as I figure out if it would really be feasible for me to buy all of them. I’ve also amassed a very large collection of Sycee’s. Yesterday bought a 1850 gram Sycee for about 20 bucks. All of them past the magnet test. What a instant relief! haha

By: Sinsy

Sinsy — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 03:25:17 +0000

I found this kwang. TUng coin i wonder if its real i cant believe i found it.

By: Anne Nowak

Anne Nowak — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 17:34:09 +0000

Fantastic site ! It’s never too late to learn. Thank you for all the pertinent information.

Anne Nowak

By: Dragon Dollar

Dragon Dollar — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:42:12 +0000

Hi Chris, I’m sorry but genuine Chinese coins never stick to a magnet. The kind of replica sold as souvenir in China does…

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 23:15:57 +0000

I have a wide variety crown size metal coins such as dragon, auto, fantasy etc. They all are attracted to a magnet. Could they be worth anything if they were produced long ago, not being modern counterfeits but contemporary counterfeit but also containing metal that is attracted to a magnet? I read some coins could be silver alloy. Could that be a case for a coin attracted to magnet?

By: Dragon Dollar

Dragon Dollar — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:06:59 +0000

Hello Charles, I am glad my writing was useful to you. I have already written a piece about the 1870 Yen here: http://www.dragondollar.com/coins/japanese-coins/this-is-not-a-chinese-coin/
I will consider writing about the Japanese trade dollars later, there is indeed a lot of forgeries for this type since it is one of the most expensive Japanese machine struck coins on the market.