David Hartill

This work is intended as a supplement to my Cast Chinese Coins. Its purpose is to illustrate in colour a wide range of Chinese coins, from earliest times to the end of the Chinese Empire in 1912. Some forgeries, fakes and replicas are also included so that they can be distinguished from genuine coins. It is not a finding catalogue; details of history and issuers will be found in Cast Chinese Coins.

Pi are small porcelain tokens made in China for the gambling houses of Siam in the 19th century. They were sometimes used as small change in the neighbourhoods in which they were issued.. They come in a large variety of shapes and colours. They are mostly inscribed in Chinese, but occasionally in Siamese. Inscriptions can vary between simply the name of the gambling house to extracts from classical Chinese poetry.This catalogue illustrates, in colour, about 1800 of these tokens, with a full translation and explanation of their inscriptions and iconography.

Various classes of objects were omitted from "Cast Chinese Amulets" (by this author), as their primary use was for gaming, rather than the bringing of good fortune. This book is intended to make good this omission. The pieces covered are: Horse Coins, a Song Dynasty game played with counters bearing the names of famous horses and generals.Chess Pieces, the well-known game of Chinese Chess, still played to this day.Select An Immortal. A game played during the Song dynasty using counters with illustrations of one of the Immortals, and a short poem describing their activities.Wine Drinking Game Coins. These are counters dating back to the time of the Han dynasty, and were used for a variety of drinking games.Study of these pieces gives an insight to Chinese history and traditions; full details of this are given for each piece.

For over 2,000 years, the Chinese have been producing amulets in the shape of flat metal objects, usually cast in brass or bronze, some shaped like the traditional square-holed cash coins, others in a variety of fancy shapes, promising good luck in various fields, the turning away of evil influences, or conveying religious sentiments. Some have inscriptions taken from the Classics of 500 BC.Previously, catalogues of these amulets were arranged in various different ways - by shape, size, meaning, Emperor's name, or a common feature. However, this made it difficult to locate a particular piece - it would not be immediately clear to a non-expert whether a piece was "Lucky", "Religious", "Family" or "Coin".This catalogue is designed for ease of identification. It is divided into four sections - Openwork, Pictorial, Zodiac, and Inscriptions. Preceding the detailed catalogue for each section is a Finding Guide which is arranged by salient features, or by the first character of the inscription. There is also a section which lists inscriptions that might not be clear as they are in non-standard scripts or lay-outs. In the catalogue there is a brief description of the piece, the inscription (if any) in Chinese characters and Pinyin, and a translation, explanation, and source.Over 5,000 amulets are included in the catalogue. Together they provide a fascinating insight into traditional Chinese beliefs and aspirations.

First published in 2005, this catalogue has become the standard reference work for cast Chinese coins. It covers both the early spade and knife coins that were used from around 600 BC and the square holed "cash" coins that were the coinage of China from the 4th century BC until the end of the Empire in the 20th century. Special attention is given to the red copper coins of Xinjiang. As well as the catalogue, there is copious background information concerning the use and manufacture of these coins, and numerous charts, maps, and tables to help both the expert and the novice to identify their coins.The second edition has been extensively edited, and contains some new coins and sections.Awarded the Lhotka Prize by the Royal Numismatic Society.

This book is intended to guide the beginner and expert through the many kinds of cash - the square-holed coin of China for centuries - produced in China and the many imitations of them produced at various times all over the Far East and along the Silk Road.The first part of the book is a Finding Guide which directs the reader to the appropriate standard work on Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese or Korean coins.In the second half, information not in the standard works is presented, either from other publications and papers, or from the author's own research.

[16:19:22] Jadles (Jamie): Early Japanese Coins is an up-to-date catalogue of pre-Meiji copper, gold and silver coins. As well as official issues, the often decorative provincial issues are covered. A selection of the intriguing Japanese amulets known as E-sen is also included.It replaces Munro and other western works.It is designed to be used both by advanced collectors who have some knowledge of characters, and beginners who will find the layout easy to follow and will quickly gain a knowledge of this coinage.It draws on historical, as well as the latest western and Japanese numismatic sources, and describes the circumstances under which many of the coins were issued and used.Guides to the Japanese language are given, and maps and lists of era names and rulers add to the background information.There is a description of how the coins were made, illustrated from a contemporary document.A Finding Guide is provided for the difficult Kanei Tsuho series, which will enable these coins to be readily attributed from the differences in their calligraphy.A rarity guide, linked to an approximate value, is provided for each coin. The author has been studying and collecting Far Eastern coins for over fifty years, and has also written the prize winning Cast Chinese Coins, and the definitive Qing Cash.