Silver with a surviving thin plating of gold. This lovely charm is HAND ENGRAVED (pixelated background, delicate & expertly done), just like the very rare presentation pieces seen in Ma & Ma (Tai Ping Coinage). A thought to ponder is why the similarity to the very rare Tai Ping presentation piece when hardly anyone would ever have seen one in those days? The Chinese dealer I obtained this from says it's early 20th C. However, Daniel K.E.Ching states in his famous catalog of 06/1991(Scott Semans), that soon after the fall of the Tai Ping Rebellion the rare skills of the engravers who had hand made special Tai Ping Presentation pieces were at work in Fukien making silver amulets. I actually believe this is one of those rare pieces, the style of the engraving is exctly the same! OB:"Tai Ping Tung pao"; RX: "Cao-sheng Kuei-tzu ("have children early after marriage"). 24mm; 2 gm.
THE TWO Most Worthy Articles on the coins of the Tai P'ing Rebellion:
Money of Kingdom of Heavenly Peace - Sandrock: http://snk.to/f-c7jqrl03
Chinese Secret Society Coins & Tokens - Wang: http://snk.to/f-c7pmenmh
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