White Copper Mountain Ghost Coin Pendant, Two-tone

One plate, two colors. The white version is white copper in its own color, on the cold side, like silver that has aged; the yellow one runs warm, close to the color of an old copper coin. The plate is the same either way: pattern, lettering and thickness all identical, and only the surface layer differs. The white reads gray-white on an overcast day and shows a little brightness only in sun. Lay the two on a sheet of white paper, one cold and one warm, and they separate at once. The holes line up between them, so the same cord gives much the same hang.

Choose the color by skin and by wardrobe. If the veins on the inside of your wrist look blue, your skin is cool and the white version follows it; if they look green, warm, the yellow does not fight you. If you mostly wear black, gray and navy, the white lifts them; if you wear khaki, brown or dark green, the yellow settles in. These are only pointers, and comparing the two side by side is the real test. Counter spotlights run yellow and the white version looks gray under them, but that is the lamp, not the metal.

The face of a charm coin carries talismanic writing on one side and bagua on the other. The characters should sit on the center of the circle, the yao lines should be evenly spaced, and the rim should have a raised border; too narrow a border and a knock at the edge chips it. A plate pulled too many times thickens the characters and the broken bagua lines join up. That is a crude way to judge old from new, and it works. Run a finger around the border to feel it; whether it is even does not show in a photograph.

The hole is at the top center, so the face hangs down naturally once strung. The two-color version has no front and no back; wear it turned either way, whichever face you want to show that day. Pick a dark cord, black, dark brown or navy, and it will hold down the pattern. Leave a little slack in the knot so the face is not pressed against the same patch of skin all day. Whether the face goes out or in comes down to how you dress; the side against the body wears more slowly and keeps its color longer.

The two colors oxidize at different rates. The pale one yellows first and then goes gray; the warm one darkens first and then turns brown. Neither polishes back, and neither should. To keep it clean, wipe the sweat off with a dry cloth after wearing and bag it. Brass carries a faint copper smell and will mark your hand, which is normal and washes off. Both dislike sweat, so in summer wipe before putting it away. Left long enough the two drift apart, the white going gray and the yellow going red, each with its own look. Cord dye bleeds, and a dark cord stains the edge of the plaque; the white version suffers most. When you change the cord, wipe the face at the same time, before the dye has set in and while it still comes off.