Here is another little sub- collecting niche to consider.
Chinese merchants used their own personalised stamp or chop to authenticate coins .Once they had verified the coin was not a fake ,they marked it with their symbol and ,as the coins usually only circulated in a fairly small area ,the other merchants recognised the mark and knew it was genuine.Many of thse were Spanish and Mexican coins ,because of the high silver content
Some coins have been chopped so many times the details are all but obscured.I only have one ,bought for melt value,without any idea of it's signifigance ..I thought some fool had got creative with a chisel
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Anyone else taking an interest in these? Here is a youtube from one American collector
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An8_aSjv3CY
Chinese merchants used their own personalised stamp or chop to authenticate coins .Once they had verified the coin was not a fake ,they marked it with their symbol and ,as the coins usually only circulated in a fairly small area ,the other merchants recognised the mark and knew it was genuine.Many of thse were Spanish and Mexican coins ,because of the high silver content
Some coins have been chopped so many times the details are all but obscured.I only have one ,bought for melt value,without any idea of it's signifigance ..I thought some fool had got creative with a chisel
Anyone else taking an interest in these? Here is a youtube from one American collector
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An8_aSjv3CY