Chop marks on coins are

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

stamped or embossed onto coins by merchants in order to validate the weight, authenticity and silver content of the coin. Depending on particular technique coins said to have been "chopmarked", "

countermark A countermarked, punchmarked or counterstamped coin is a coin that has had some additional mark or symbol punched into it at some point after it was originally produced while in circulation. This practice is now obsolete. Countermarking can be ...

ed" and "counterstamped". Starting with the 18th century, a number of European, American and Japanese silver coins (generically known as the

trade dollar Trade dollars are silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with China and the Orient. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar, which had set the standard for a de facto common currency ...

) began circulating in the Far East. Each merchant's firm had its own mark and, after heavy circulation, the design of the coin became completely obliterated by the chop marks. Chop marks were also used on

copper-alloy Copper alloys are metal alloys that have copper as their principal component. They have high resistance against corrosion. The best known traditional types are bronze, where tin is a significant addition, and brass, using zinc instead. Both of t ...

U.K. Large Pennies, U.S. Large Cents and other copper coins of Europe, Central, South and North America and have Hindu, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic nation's chopmarks as well as English alphabet chop marks from British and American Merchants in Hong Kong from the 1830s to 1960s when world silver coins and large pennies from many European and British Empire nations gave up their colonies and their coinage became demonetized. Chinese tokens from the province of

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

at the time of the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

, these tokens were usually issued by local authorities and could only be used to pay local merchants, tax collectors, local banks, and other local businesses during this period. The practice lasted until China demonetized the silver coins in 1933.

References

Coins of China Seals (insignia) History of Imperial China {{coin-stub

See also

Further reading

References