Help dating Chinese coin

[jfh-migration]

I have a brass Chinese coin marked "Ten Cash" and "Kiang-Nan" in English with a dragon, but the other side is all in Chinese. I did enough Googling to find it's early 1900's, but can someone here decipher the Chineese to date it exactly?

[satootoko]

One problem is your description as "brass", since all the Kiang-Nan 10 cash are listed in Krause as being copper. Only the 1 cash is described as brass.

 

Leaving the metal question aside, I don't see a "nien" (year) character on my enhanced view of your coin, which pretty much limits it to the 1898-1902 period, according to Krause. The Krause pictures are pretty lousy, and I haven't been able to pin one down as matching yours. There are about 30 different variations on essentially the same 10 cash design from the last 15 years of the Imperial period.

 

 

All of the coins from about 1903 on are shown as being dated in the complex Chinese cyclical calendar, but the earlier ones are listed as being undated.

 

Shirohnichan is much more competent at reading those dates than I am, and perhaps he'll come along and clear things up for both of us. .

[jfh-migration]

Wow, thanks a lot!

 

I looked up the Chinese numerals and didn't find any on the coin which is why I posted here -- being undated makes sense then. At least knowing there is probably no date will keep me from going nuts trying to date it anymore.

 

It probably is copper rather than brass. It actually seems more like copper to me. I found a web site that indicated that 10 Cash dragons were brass, but I also know you shouldn't trust everything you find on the Internet.

[satootoko]

I also know you shouldn't trust everything you find on the Internet.

 

I've invited a non-member of this forum who is fluent in Chinese to take a look at this thread, so perhaps we'll get a definitive answer.