Chinese coins

A few years ago I was on a site about 30 mile's from here along a railroad track on the west sdie of Atlanta..it was out in the country,,

anyways I found a spot with iron signals as I was walking along the trackside in the wood's...

I dug a few of the targets and they were the usual brass stuff from the mid to late 1800's but I also found a few of the Chinese coins with Square holes in the middle..and alot of the Pewter 4 hole button's...

I figured maybe the buttons were off of shelter tent's for a camp......

now what I wonder is if here in the East did they use Chinese workers on these railroad's?

Anyone Know..

Keith

I'm not sure Keith, but I've done some research on the origins of Chinese immigration.
Here's a real good site IRT the Chinese and the RR

[cprr.org]

Aaron

Here's another one....

[history.state.gov]

Aaron

Nah, they probably just ordered some chink food, and the delivery guy dropped it

Joe

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A few years ago I was on a site about 30 mile's
> from here along a railroad track on the west sdie
> of Atlanta..it was out in the country,,
>
> anyways I found a spot with iron signals as I was
> walking along the trackside in the wood's...
>
> I dug a few of the targets and they were the
> usual brass stuff from the mid to late 1800's but
> I also found a few of the Chinese coins with
> Square holes in the middle..and alot of the Pewter
> 4 hole button's...
>
> I figured maybe the buttons were off of shelter
> tent's for a camp......
>
> now what I wonder is if here in the East did they
> use Chinese workers on these railroad's?
>
> Anyone Know..
>
> Keith

LOL Joe mabe that's it!!

I sent you an email earleier today Joe...

I cant log into your site??????

Keith

Thanks for the links Aaron..I will study through them...

I have suspsicion that in the later years the railroad companys used them in other areas of the U.S.

Keith

Keith, all the Chinnese coin I found had square hole in the center and all were dug near RR tracks

Hey caretaker ..

Great info you just provided!

what area of the country do you Hunt?

the only chinese coins I have found have been on this one spot 100 yards from the track's..

I may go back down one day and see what else is in this spot...its slap loaded in iron and brass target's...

I left it alone and never went back,,, no civil war stuff surfaced...

Keith

Keith, I'm up in Maine, but dug them in Mass and NH, Ilived in those states first, I'm moving farther and farther away

Yeah,them Chinese must of had alot of holes in there pockets...thats by far the most common coin I find in mining camps!Actually,I figure the Americans told them it aint silver,we dont want it...so maybe used them for poker chips or something.

Whats weird Ray is why did they even have them with them all that time ???

Keith

The Western & Atlantic railroad began construction in 1838 and ran from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Atlanta (then the town of Terminus), Georgia, where it ended. Construction was finished in 1850.

Civil trouble back in China led to the Taiping Rebellion which cost the lives of 20 million people and lasted from 1850 to 1864. Many Chinese laborers left China (or were recruited) due to the rebellion and headed for the Hawaiian pineapple plantations. Some continued east and settled on the west coast to hunt for gold or join the railroad construction. They worked the railways of the Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad. The railway from California to Iowa was completed in 1869.

Some 380,000 Chinese migrated to the United States between 1849 - 1930. Some travelled east and worked the railway extensions others to Canada, rather than return to China. Those that settled in Georgia probably also worked the Augusta to Savannah canal project from 1845 - 1847 which utilized many Chinese laborers.

Early Chinese settlements in Atlanta were probably as hired laborers, living in tent communities whereever work was available. Those few that stayed in Atlanta on into the early 1900's would go on to operate laundries, grocery stores, and restaurants, primarily catering to other Chinese settlers.

The Chinese coins you found were probably lost by those early immigrants that camped and worked along the railways.

Johnnanglo

Good stuff Johnny thanks.

Only thing I'm curious about is I thought Chinese anti immigration acts put into place in the late 1800's had prevented them from immigrating till 1943?

Aaron

Thanks for info Johhny great writeup..

Anyone in Ga or anywhere else want to dig some Chinese coins let me Know...We can go dig some!

cant promise you one but I can show where they come from LOL!!Gotta be a couple of more left there..no telling the age of those suckers...I hear they circ
ulated forever...

Keith

Yes it's funny that they have no year on them unlike most other coins....

Aaron

Only thing I'm curious about is I thought Chinese anti-immigration acts put into place in the late 1800's had prevented them from immigrating till 1943?

Yes, in 1882 the Congress banned Chinese immigration for ten years. The Chinese were (are) excellent workers - they were preferred over whites. Around 1870 there was a mini-depression and jobs were hard to find. The Chinese were seen as intruders in the job market. There was also fears of Chinese opium use, prostitution, and gambling. Since the Chinese kept to themselves in their own community, they generated more fear than other immigrants.

Therefore, prejudices being what they were (are), the majority banned the minority.

Here's what Atlanta looked like (map-wise) in 1839 (before there was an Atlanta) - the dark line is the proposed railroad that was built from 1838 to 1850.



That's where I'd go to find those old Chinese coins (just follow the rails).

Johnnyanglo

Johnnyanglo may I ask where you got a map from those years? I can only find them back to 1876.

Hey ozzie you can get those maps from library of Congress or I like university of Ga rare map collection..

also alot of them here for a more overview area..[georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu]

Also university of Alabama has some nice ones..

Heres the railroad I got the chinese coins off of..actually this rail line has produced some great Confederate relics for me over the years..

[memory.loc.gov]


Heres the railroads in 1855 built..



You see on the Atlanta west point line that runs to a place called Palmetto in the left hand bottom corner...

Unreal the Confederate relics that have been dug out of that town right there..General Hood after the battle of Atlanta massed the whole Confederate army in and around that town...Jefferson Davis actually came to that town on a train and gave a Speech to the troops..[www.history.com]

I know where the Depot was at where he got of the train...it was in the woods and its had some pretty Rebel Buttons in there along with other items...Gone now under a car lot...

You see that town that says Campbellton right above palmetto...My buddy found a Texas Cavalry camp about 2 miles out fo that town about 25 years ago..Unreal the relics that came out of that camp....I found another cavalry camp out about 3 miles from His he had found in a diary I got hold of...Man what a fun time that was....those sites are gone now under development...

Keith



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2014 07:10AM by Keith Southern.

Keith, it's a really shame all that history is under concrete and strip malls. At least you made a lot of sweet memory's and found the relics w it. You've got to hunt places most of us only dream of.

Aaron

Good deal Keith. Funny how some of the small towns have had their names changed. Most of the roads aren't named, some of the creeks are named and changed also. Have to do a screen cut and overlay. Love those old maps. Back to subject, I have found only one Chinese coin with the square hole...have no idea how old it is...

All I know is they used Chinese labor to a great degree in building these old railroads ...thus the chinese coin finds,

Went to a coin dealer and he lent me a book and quite a chore to read them relative year and emperor at that time.

Not worth much and my coin dealer has a shoebox full...

"All I know is they used Chinese labor to a great degree in building these old railroads ..."

That's a understatement Dan. The RRs out west were built upon broken back and bones of thousands of Chinese who originally came here in search of gold.

Aaron

Thread has become real interesting..

thanks for all the help everyone..

And I think we are seeing that the Chinese did build railroads all across the nation....

thats one thing I love about detecting.. you PROVE history...

I still would like to Know why the Chinese were still carrying the Coins of their native land here in the States...But I'm glad they kept them to loose...Do you think they still bartered with there own money between thier people???

I know the Romans took there coins everywhere but they were conquering/occupying/establishing their power in other lands.....NOT THE SAME LOL!!

Again if anyone wants to go and try to dig some up let me Know...I think there a great piece of history.

Keith

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I still would like to Know why the Chinese were
> still carrying the Coins of their native land here
> in the States...But I'm glad they kept them to
> loose...Do you think they still bartered with
> there own money between thier people???
>
>
> Keith

I know in most of the mining areas they had their own towns and stores. Good possibility they were using their own money. CA even had a special tax just for them, along with the fact that they weren't allowed to work a claim until it was considered "worked out". The Chinese could still go in and make a living off of it. If it was found to have good gold left it wasn't uncommon for the Chinese to be driven off until it was considered worked out again. Pretty tough go for those folks.

They were abandoned in the cars and swept out once stopped.

Exactly.
The Chinese would go in and work through the talings with their BARE HANDS and still find gold, and then get ran out.

Aaron

To help ID your Chinese coins this website may prove useful: [www.calgarycoin.com] and [primaltrek.com]

It appears that Chinese coins were used amongst the Chinese themselves to buy and sell, and were traded with Indians, the Russians, settlers, trappers, and others too. A special class of Chinese coins were minted that apparently was meant to tell a poem when all the coins were assembled. These were struck under Emperor Kangxi (1661 to 1722) of the Qing Dynasty out of 20 mints - the Chinese could put the coins in the proper order to make the poem (based on the inscription) and tie them on a string and carry them for good luck. The Indians were said to tie the Chinese coins into a kind of maille for protection from the arrows of other unfriendly tribes. It is likely that those coins from China were memorabilia and represented their home country, and with special meaning, the coins were woven into baskets and used as decorations amongst the Chinese families.

Based on Chinese coinage found in North America, it appears that much of these coins were "old" for the period, that is, the 1800's. So many coins were minted in China from so many dynasties and provinces and towns that ancient coins were still floating about. It probably wasn't uncommon for a Chinese laborer to have coins dating back 100's of years in his possession -- old coins were rather common (sadly no dates on Chinese coins - just emperor names or mintage locations and weight).

No doubt it was bad luck to lose a lucky coin - but just like the rest of humanity, things fall out of pockets and strings break.

The map below give an idea where the Chinese were settled ... mostly hunting gold and building the railroads.

Looks like most stayed out west, where they originally started.

Good stuff

Thanks

Aaron

Johnny....... thanks for your homework/valued input...... again!

APL = Head West!

Uh huh!