China Dao Guang Tong Bao 1821 to 1850

This is a coin from the Qing Dynasty of China, under Empeor Dao Guang (Tal Kuang) who ruled from 1821 to 1850. Most of these coins are cast and do not tip collector scales unless they are of very high quality. Roughly:

worn: $1 US dollar approximate catalog value
average circulated: $4
well preserved: $12

Rarely do you see one as nice as that shown in our main picture (upper left). This picture comes from Heritage Auctions where it sold for $1800 during a 2015 auction. The reason the price is so high is that the Heritage specimen is a 'seed coin,' that is, one from which other coins are made. Seed coins, in general, are very rare and very valuable.

CoinQuest thanks Heritage for use of their coin photo.

For just about all Dao Guang Tong Bao coins, they are worth a few dollars unless they look like Heritage's coin. The nice-looking example in our secondary picture (with the black background) sold for $4 in an eBay auction.
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