[MCMLXXVIII]

I bought some Chinese coins in various provinces while traveling in China. I know for sure most of them should be fakes and I don't even have doubts about them being fakes because they look fake or because they cost me pennies. The trouble is I cannot remember how much I payed for them nor when and where exactly I bought them, but I hope some of them should be genuine.

I'll start with the three big Chinese coins with a square in the middle that kinda look like traditional feng-shui coins and I haven't seen anything like it on the web. So hopefully you can help me. Here are the photographs:




My questions are:
1. Do they look real? How do I recognize a fake?
2. What coins are these?
3. What would they be worth?

[qwasty]

Every old looking Chinese coin I've ever seen was a fake, so now I instinctively think "fake" whenever I see one. Even experts can't tell the difference. I prefer to collect coins that are definitely genuine, either because they have been conclusively authenticated by examination, or because they have a history that proves they're real. For many Chinese coins, you can't do either.

In any case, I would be very surprised if any of them were real, if you bought them all the same way, while you were traveling. These are produced by the millions for tourists. In fact, I bet fakes probably outnumber genuine coins a million to one.