China Kirin Province 50 Cents and Dollar with Yin Yang 1900 to 1905

While I am sure, Tyler, that there are many modern and ancient charms and amulets with Chinese dragons and the Taoism's yin yang symbol, you did not give us much to go on when choosing one for this page. Good legal-tender examples of coins with dragons and yin-yang symbols are the 50 cents and one dollar denomination from China's Kirin Province. These were minted between 1900 and 1906, and can be quite valuable if genuine and in good shape. The 50 cents has annotation '3 candarins' and the dollar has '7 caindarins.'

There is an excellent web site on Chinese coins at DragonDollar.com, and they may be able to help you quite a bit in your quest for information about old Chinese coins.

The standard catalogs give the following information, but the Chinese coin market is so volatile, these values must be interpreted as very, very approximate.

50 CENTS
worn: $10 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $20
well preserved: $80
fully uncirculated: $350

1 DOLLAR
worn: $30 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $180
well preserved: $360
fully uncirculated: $1400

The biggest problem with Chinese coins is counterfeiting. Major, well-financed counterfeiting operations are currently underway in China (as far as I know, with the blessings of the Chinese government) and they are producing oodles of high-quality fakes. These fakes are not only of Chinese coins, but of rare coins worldwide. The numismatic (coin collecting) hobby is engaged in fighting these shysters, but it is an up-hill battle. Collectors are the ones who lose out.
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