u/American-Doggo

Massive new pickup! So thrilled to be able to get this, I was partially convinced this was a type I would never own with convincing chops. This coin was originally purchased by another member 9 months ago dirt cheap on an eBay BIN sale. The chopmark is 圥, the rare ancient form of 𡴆, meaning "mushroom." The true meaning of this character is debatable. It could theoretically be a phonetic substitute for another word that sounds identical. 圥 (lù) is phonetically the same as 祿 (lù), which is an extremely common auspicious character meaning good fortune. Alternatively, these ancient characters have strong elemental associations, with this one being heavily tied to earth. Perhaps this implies land sales or landscaping, though this is all speculative. Whatever the meaning, this coin has quickly become one of my favorite coins in my collection, alongside the Chilean Peso. I will cherish it for a long time.

Main photos taken by chopmarkedcoins on Instagram

This is probably the first coin I've bought just for its chops (though I did also want a mid-style cap and rays). I love the circle chops that seem more common in the midcentury. The chop that got me to pull the trigger on this was a perfect 3D cube. I've seen one other example that had two of these next to each other. I hope there's one out there with a nice cube stack. There is also "Illuminati chop," which I believe may be a form of 回. 工, which means "work." Two examples of 乆, two 十, 㒷, Seal 木, 三, 大, and numerous other seal or Cantonese variant characters.

Easily one of my favorite pickups so far! I will enjoy looking at this for a very long time.

Easily one of my favorite pickups so far! I will enjoy looking at this for a very long time.