Can someone please translate 4 Chinese words for me?

Question

I recently realized that one of my ceiling fan pulls is shaped like a Chinese coin, and I did a little searching around but i was unable to figure out what they mean. I did however find the exact same one on the internet here: http://www.lampsusa.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=30983 . Thanks in advanced

Answer 1

It's up-side-down. You'd want to turn it around for the explanation below.

After you turn it around, you should read it in this order: 光緒 通寶 (top and bottom together, then right and left).

光緒 (pronounced: guang1 xu4): This is the name of a Chinese emperor who reigned from 1871-1908.

通寶 (pronounced: tong1 bao3): It means 'inaugural treasure / inaugural currency'. These 2 words on the coin meant that it is accepted for every purpose in every place of the nation.

The 4 words put together means a coin that is used during the rule of the Emperor Guang Xu.