The fantasy is not a true fake, as it does not replicate a known genuine issue.Įduard Kann, in Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Coins: Gold, Silver, Nickel & Aluminum, classifies this piece as Kann B92.įantasy coins of Chinese vintage feature “decorative imagery, supplemented by whimsical inscriptions” and were designed and struck privately by people working “underground,” according to Kann. The undated piece features a facing bust wearing a small hat on the obverse, and dragons around a symbol on the reverse. It would have been quite a conversation piece.The piece is graded Mint State 63 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., and purportedly shows Chinese emperor Kuang Hsü, who reigned from 1875 to 1908. Overall, this is a very interesting souvenir from 19th century China that would have graced a Victorian gentleman’s library. It is open rather than being covered with glass. The practice evolved over thousands of years largely in isolation of outside influence. The golden figurehead of the yacht depicting the couple’s daughter is at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK.Ĭhina was one of the earliest areas in the world to use coinage. She and her husband amassed a large collection of ethnographic and other material from their travels. She died from Malaria aboard the Sunbeam in 1887 at the age of 47. Anna wrote various books about their travels including the best-selling A Voyage in the Sunbeam. Lord Thomas Brassey owned the luxuriously-appointed yacht Sunbeam which he and his wife, the writer Anna Brassey, sailed to many parts of the world. Some of the pieces are more than 2,000 years old.’ One token for example is decorated with a phoenix and a dragon.Īn old typewriter-written label attached to the reverse reads: ‘The Chinese ‘key money’ was brought to England by the Captain of the ‘Sunbeam’ – Lord Brassey’s famous yacht – after the round the world voyage in 1876-7. In addition to coins, there are picturesque tokens which might have served as presentation pieces and also as amulets, These tend to have been cast with pictures as well as script. This is probably one the scarcest and most valuable coins in the collection.
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