Rectangular Chinese coin?

Question

Hi

My grandad has discovered a wierd rctangular chinese coin, silver coloured. It has on the "front" 2 characters written vertically surrounded by a border of small flower shapes, and the back has one indented character on top of four "outpoking characters" (like on the front) arranged in a square shape, surrounded by the same border with flower shapes. The coin is no larger than 2.2cm long and 1.5cm wide and with a thickness of just over 1mm. I cannot translate the characters so i can not tell you the meaning, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Christian.

Answer 1

It is Japanese not Chinese and sound like a silver coin from 1848-1869. More than one variety exists and with out seeing it I can not say which one it is. It is called a Shu 9MM wide and 14 MM long give or take. There is also a 2 Shu and a Bu both are larger. The coin is made of silver. They are worth $15 and up depending on just which one it is and its grade. Some rare ones are worth $2,000. A U.S. coin dealer will be of no help, for he would have no idea what you even have let alone a fair value. If you can get quality photo's click on my icon and email me. I will send an email address to send the photo's too. A coin club in your area may have an Asia collector in it and he could help.