Chinese Spade Coins (Wang Mang) [opgelost]

Hi Guys,

Received some spade coins this morning and would like your opinion please:


After some searching they appear to be Hsin Dynasty (Wang Mang) AD 7-23.
And to reference Hartill they are The Ten Spades. AD 10-14.
Numbered 9.20 - 9.29 (with the exception of 9.24, as I appear to have two of 9.23)

The reverses of them all are type a, with the exception of 9.25, which appears to be type b as it has the extended line.

So, am I correct in my identification?
Are they genuine? (I'm guessing repro considering what I paid, unless they really are only worth pennies)
But if they are genuine, any ideas on value?

Thanks for your time.

Andy.

Nice catch!
I've been hunting these myself for a few years, both the spades, knifes etc. The reason why I still haven't got any is because I know too little about these coins, and it would be a nightmare to spends a lot of money on fakes. My knowledge is too thin to spot the fakes, since some could seem to be authentic, but then turns out to not be.
Anyway, I really hope these are genuine, so let me be the first one to congratulate you!

The white dirt gives me the feeling of replica's. Many spades are copied.
And as you say, the price you paid is to low to be genuine and used as charms.
See this site: http://primaltrek.com/spade.html
or this book:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/c6cidiqnu6hpsu4/Catalogue_Chinese_Coins_7thcBC-621AD.pdf?dl=0

The dirt on them is more of a sandy colour rather than white, and there's a great deal of what looks like verdigris on them too..
I actually only spent £1 on them (£1 for all 10), including postage from China, hence why I'm thinking they're replicas, I've never been that lucky.

But the verdigris comes off slightly when handling them, but not like paint, and the residue on my fingers feels slightly waxy and it smells like verdigris too. If I was handling a bagful of badly stored pennies from the 1950's I'd say they were genuine, but these are supposed to be 2000 years old?

I know they're very clever at making coins look aged, but this is a bit too clever for me.

I'll see if I can get any better pictures in a better light.

Frank Robinson is my goto guy for Chinese coins. You could email him.

http://www.fsrcoin.com/
frank@fsrcoin.com

Hi,

the spade coin (I mean the authentic one) in normal circumstances should not be lower than CNY500. The usual price will be CNY700+ (Each)

I never buy any Chinese coins, especially not from China itself unless it's from a reputable dealer, simply because there are jus so many forgeries around.

it is gypsum or plaster of some kind

Yes, on closer inspection it does look like plaster.

So I've managed to get a great deal then? Over £500 worth of ancient Chinese coins for only £1, what an amazing bargain!!!

Only kidding, I've got £1 worth of replica coins for £1, I'm still happy with that.

I shown them to my girlfriend last night, who normally rolls her eyes when I talk about coins. But she loved them, wants me to buy her a set so she can make a necklace out of them. Which considering what they are, is probably all they're good for.

Thanks all for your input.

Nope these are fake. The inscriptions on the knives are too high and too clear, usually they will be inconsistent (ie. low in some areas, high in other areas). It's very common to find fake knives

Thanks Kenny (and everyone else).

Definitely fake. If it's too good to be true, then it probably is.