Lately we have been getting many inquiries with attached scans of Chinese dragon dollars and taels asking for our opinions as to whether they are genuine or not. So far the fakes are batting 100% and possible genuine pieces zero. While carefully looking at these scans I look for the obvious at first which is imperfections in the denticles around the rim and the dot pattern of the inner circle on the obverse. On genuine pieces these are usually almost perfect. The on-line auctions are currently loaded with various offerings of such material from the mainland. Several years ago I won a few lots which included some fakes of rarities and some really bazaar fabrications.  My first response to these inquiries is to have them weigh their coin or coins. Most of the modern fakes will come in underweight  and are not struck in good silver . The standard weight for the 7 Mace 2 Candareens dragon dollar is 26.86 grams which happens to be 72 % of the Kuping Tael weight of 37.31 grams.



















For an example of a rather exotic dragon tael lets take a look at the silver fantasy Sinkiang Tael that I have listed as X # M345 in the current edition of "Unusual World Coins". Now my example is not struck in silver and being quite oversize at 45.2 mm and underweight at 31.7 grams. The edge does have rather uniform reeding. The misspelling of TAEL as "TEAL" is a definite give away to those whom are somewhat knowledgeable with Chinese coinage but perhaps not to a casual collector. No genuine coins are known to exist of this particular type during the reign of Emperor Kuang-hsü, 1875 - 1908.

















Now for a more unusual design for a Kirin Province Tael dated year 10 (1885) of Kuang-hsü I have again an oversize piece measuring 45 mm and very underweight at 30.53 grams. Similar genuine coins were actually struck in silver with this design but measure only 39 mm with a thickness of 3-1/4 mm but slightly underweight at 35.5 grams. The weight of the tael in China varied somewhat  to different standards but the Kuping Tael weight was used for most all dragon coinage. This fabrication is really a wonderful example of excellent workmanship. Skinny dragons facing each other are on the obverse. The edge lettering is really a classic and refers to the well known designer L. Georgi. The edge lettering reads: GIORGI L • GIORGI • GIORGI LNCI x (9 Chinese characters) • (7 Chinese characters) x



















A recent inquiry that I received from Charles Chalhoub located in Lebanon prompted me to post this subject and will provide a review of a false no date ( 1901 ) Szechuan dragon dollar. Starting off I had Chalhoub check the weight of this coin and at 26.86 grams we had a remote possibility of it being genuine so I had him send along scans at 300 dpi for a visual inspection. The four vertical Manchu characters at the center of the obverse are very deteriorated and the dots of the inner circle are very uneven and missing a dot at left and also one dot is missing at right. The denticles along the rim on both obverse and reverse vary from full to nonexistent. This is a very poor fabrication but will certainly plague the antique flea and numismatic markets for years to come.

I have always had quite an interest in the ribboned medals issued by Japan. The first medal was issued in 1874 commemorating Japan's involvement in the China War of 1874. The last was issued in 1944 commemorating the Great East Asia War. The first medal is extremely rare whereas the last is also rare as very few were actually issued. Amongst this small but interesting series of 23 different are 2 enthronement medals.
































The first medal was issued for the enthronement of Yoshihito / Taisho Era in November 1915. Struck in silver it measures 30.41 mm in diameter with a large gold Imperial Seal at top center above two draped banners and comes in a wooden box.
































The second type was issued for the enthronement of Hirohito /Showa Era in November 1928. Also struck in silver it measures 30.32 mm in diameter having a small gold Imperial Seal at center on an altar and comes in a paper covered wooden box.

Recently I purchased a group of eight different Japanese ribboned medals on e-Bay from a vender with an FPO address at a rather decent price. While checking further with a friend who is also an OMSA member he told me that apparantly a stash of these medals has turned up in Japan and released into the collector's marketplace. A great time to buy as they most likely will be quickly absorbed by collectors worldwide.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) was originally a British Railway Company founded in 1833 connecting London with the West Country, South West England and South Wales. The GWR kept it's identity through the 1923 grouping and became the Western Region of British Railways in 1948. World War II took certainly took it's toll on the GWR mostly through heavy wear and tear and of course the bombing of London by Hitler's Luftwaffe.

Since my greater interest is in all orders and medals issued during the World War II era somewhere along the line I added two GWR First Aid Efficiency medals to my collection.



























The first example is struck in 0.375 fine gold and was awarded for 15 years. The central shield is for the GWR surmounted on a cross of the Order of St. John. It measures 25.82 mm in diameter and weighs 6.86 grams. The reverse is engraved 3363/ JOHN SNELL / 1939 at center with the usual jeweler's hallmarks below just above the raised rim -  "J. T & Co."




























The second example is much more elaborate having the GWR shield in colored enamels with the cross of St. John in white against a field of black and was awarded for 25 years. I would assume it might also be struck in 0.375 gold but it isn't marked as such on the rim as the first example is. It measures 25.96 mm with a weight of 8.51 grams. The reverse is engraved 1584 / WILLIAM J. ROBERTS / 1944 and has the same jeweler's initials but this time in a small shield below just above the raised rim.