Temple Token

25mm, br

Bruce writes: The front side is shown upside down, and is inscribed in Chinese seal script writing. This type of writing is supposed to be ancient Chinese, but for the last thousand years or more, it is just a fancy type of writing used for special purposes (such as for seals used to sign documents or as a signature of an artist on his work). Most Chinese today can not read this type of writing, and I'm not much better. The top character (when you get it right side up) appears to be "Lin" (meaning "forest"). The character to the right is "K'ai" (meaning "to open or begin"). The other two characters I can not make out. Although the writing is Chinese, this piece is probably from Japan. Those foxes are typical for Japan but very unusual for China. It is difficult to say how old it is; definitely 20th century, could be as recent as last year. Most such tokens are souvenirs from temples. People in Japan travel to famous temples around the country, and there is always a gift shop nearby to commemorate the event.
Qiusheng writes: This token is definitely Chinese, it is from the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.),if it is authentic,it could worth >5,000,000. [Note: the token is almost certainly a modern reproduction]
Bruce writes: Qiusheng has a good sense of humor. A token worth $5 million! This is certainly not from the Shang dynasty -- coinage had not even been invented then. I'm pretty sure its from Japan. I have seen similar pieces in catalogs of Japanese esen (picture coins).

Know anything about this token? Please let me know!

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