China (Empire) Hsuan Tung Dollar with Dragon and Clouds (Fakes are possible) 1911

This is a wonderful silver dollar from the Chinese Empire under Hsuan Tung, who reigned from 1908 to 1912. He became emperor at the age of 2 years, 10 months.

The pattern includes a decorated dragon and sprays of flowers. These coins are highly sought by collectors. The unusual form of the dragon makes this dollar (yuan) coin stand out. It is a valuable coin, if genuine. The trouble is that there are *tons* of counterfeits circulating among coin collectors. The only way to be sure your coin is genuine is to deal with reliable, respected dealers and auction houses.

We have often said that Chinese numismatics (coin collecting) is in its infancy. Major players are entering the market, and this will help stabilize the situation. But for years to come it is likely that pricing will be basically unpredictable.

The one in our picture (upper left) sold for more than $2000, even in the face of much lower values in published catalogs. To show how unpredictable prices are, consider that an uncirculated specimen sold in 2011 by respected dealer CNG at auction for $26000. That's quite a swing! We have inspected recent auction results and estimate catalog value as follows:

worn: $50 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $150
well preserved: $350
fully uncirculated: $1000

There is a good luck token which resembles this coin. Don't be fooled. See this page.

A typical counterfeit may look like the one below, sent to us by a reader. The patterns on real and fake coins do not come close to matching. Many times, counterfeits are more difficult to detect.

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