Asian coin weights?

[will1976]

I've spent the morning looking up these two coin weights (?) with a little success on the oblong one but I've found nothing on the round one.

The oblong one weighs 31.5gm so a touch over a troy ounce (my scales might be slightly out here) measures 31x21x5mm. This one is definitely Chinese as the images match the 5 cent (fen) coin for 1936-39 (Krause y#348) with the diameter of the image on the weight matching the 18mm of the coin.

The round weight I've had less luck with. I'm pretty certain it's Chinese again but not a 100% sure, it has a weight of 44gm with a diameter of 30mm. When placed with the characters face down it is domed in shape. Both are non magnetic

Any information an what they are or where used for would be appreciated, even a pointer in the right direction.

[will1976]

[will1976]

[azda]

Do you know anyone who can read Chinese? Maybe your local takeaway, they might be able to decipher the 2nd one.

[Sword]

2 hours ago, will1976 said:

I've spent the morning looking up these two coin weights (?) with a little success on the oblong one but I've found nothing on the round one.

The oblong one weighs 31.5gm so a touch over a troy ounce (my scales might be slightly out here) measures 31x21x5mm. This one is definitely Chinese as the images match the 5 cent (fen) coin for 1936-39 (Krause y#348) with the diameter of the image on the weight matching the 18mm of the coin.

The round weight I've had less luck with. I'm pretty certain it's Chinese again but not a 100% sure, it has a weight of 44gm with a diameter of 30mm. When placed with the characters face down it is domed in shape. Both are non magnetic

Any information an what they are or where used for would be appreciated, even a pointer in the right direction.

I have done GCSE Chinese and can give you some information.

The first one is indeed Chinese. The portrait is that of Sun Yat-Sen, the founding father of the Republic of China. The Chinese characters translate to "25th year of the Republic of China" (1937). Dr Sun died in 1925 and so this is a commemoration item. The reverse states finess 98.00 (98%), Weight 1.000. The logo is that of the Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong. I won't describe it as coin coin weight but (if genuine) as a silver ingot issued by a bank. 

The second silver weight: this has characters for Hunan Provence. The weight is one Tael which is a traditional Chinese weight. "In China, there were many different weighting standards of tael depending on the region or type of trade. In general the silver tael weighed around 40 grams (1.3 ozt). The most common government measure was the Kuping; "treasury standard") tael, weighing 37.5 grams (1.21 ozt). A common commercial weight, the Caoping "canal shipping standard") tael weighed 36.7 grams (1.18 ozt) of marginally less pure silver.

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by Sword

[will1976]

@Sword Thank you very much, I didn't hold out much hope of finding anything out especially on the second one. Is there any indication of date for the Tael?

I had seen the Hang Seng bank mentioned in a few of the pages I'd googled but nothing seemed to match the ingot. I shall add them both to the 'unusual' section of my collection

[Sword]

There is no indication of date for the Tael. Nice items! 

[Sword]

On 2/13/2019 at 10:11 PM, will1976 said:

@Sword Thank you very much, I didn't hold out much hope of finding anything out especially on the second one. Is there any indication of date for the Tael?

I had seen the Hang Seng bank mentioned in a few of the pages I'd googled but nothing seemed to match the ingot. I shall add them both to the 'unusual' section of my collection

Found one for you. 

 

This shows the portrait of Yuan Shikai (The portrait of the Fat Man Dollar). 

 

[will1976]

Again thank you @Sword I guess it helps knowing what you're looking for and being able to read the text!

Edited February 16, 2019 by will1976