Tai P'ing Era issue type of the Golden Coin Secret Society. As a secret membership badge these are not considered coins. Ma & Ma list these (as well as other Chinese Ref works) - this is Ma&Ma H39.
Tai Ping Rebellion; Golden Coin Society (a branch of the Heaven & Earth Society). According to Helen Wang's excellent article (See Library), this piece is a standard late issue membership badge (these 8 trigram pieces are Secret Society membership badges - Not coins). There are two translations of the Ob: 1) 'Jin gian yi ji' (r,l,t,b), "Golden coin mark of loyalty; or 2) 'Yi Ji Jin gian' (t,b,r,l) as "Mark of Loyalty - A golden coin".
RX: 4 linked lozenges; said to symbolize four faces & 8 directions, meaning "everywhere". Large type with character "Li" above the hole.
Ma & Ma's 'Encyclopedia of Tai Ping Coins' shows this variety (H-39). 46 mm, 32.19 gm. V.Scarce.
From Steve Album: The Golden Coin Society, a branch of the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society) that was active during the Taiping Rebellion, was a fraternal organization dedicated to removing the Manchus from China. Their name was initially derived from their membership badge, a pair of Kang Xi Tong Bao coins fixed back to back by a red silk thread, so as to obscure the Manchu inscriptions on the reverse. As the society grew, more personalized badges were needed. Several varieties of these 'coins' exist, all with a curiously written jin character. The first two strokes of the word are written in a way that resembles the element ru (enter).
For definitive articles on the Tai Ping Rebellion and other Secret Society coins and membership badges - follow these links to the Moneta Library:
VIEW and DOWNLOAD:
THE TWO Most Worthy Articles on the coins of the Tai P'ing Rebellion:
Money of the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace - Sandrock: Money of Kingdom of Heavenly Peace
Chinese Secret Society Coins & Tokens - Wang: Chinese Secret Society Coins & Tokens - Wang
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