White Copper Coin Totem Dangle Charm

A round plaque with a square hole at the centre, a raised rim around the edge, and a pattern on both faces. On the front the characters are set around the square hole, their strokes held inside the rim and never crossing it. The plaque is an even thickness, so the edge does not scrape the fingertip. The inner wall of the square hole has been filed too, which keeps a cord from fraying. The characters stand proud and the ground is sunk, with the same space left between each one. The rim rises a hair above the face, so pieces stacked together do not rub the lettering. A ring of fine file marks runs around the edge where it was dressed.

The round coin with a square hole stayed in use for a very long time. Round outside and square within, it was compared to a round heaven and a square earth, and that reading is an old one. In time the coin shape itself became an ornament; charm coins borrowed the shell and put auspicious phrases and patterns on the faces instead of a reign title. The form runs back to the Qin banliang, and the square hole never changed — what changed was the weight and the inscription. Charm coins did not circulate, so the men who cast them were not bound by the mint's rules, and the designs opened up.

The hanging hole is the coin's own eye. The cord goes through the square hole and a knot stops it. Some people add a small ring so the coin can turn, and both faces get seen in turn. The wall of the hole is thin, so do not draw the knot too tight or it will cut a groove into it. Both faces are chamfered at the hole, and the cord will not slice whichever way it enters.

White copper reads cool and pale; set beside the warm yellow of brass, one looks like old silver and the other like old gold. The colour of white copper is steady and does not turn red, and when it darkens it goes grey rather than taking on the warmer tone brass does. Which to choose depends on the beads: dark wood beads sit warmer with brass, pale bodhi looks cleaner with white copper. Brass darkens toward red over time and white copper does not, and that is the plainest difference between the two.

Both faces are flat, so they mark faster than anything else; a few days in a pocket with keys leaves a web of fine scratches. If you want it to stay clean, keep it in its own small bag. The four corners of the square hole take the most stress, and a drop onto hard ground can chip them, so keep your hand low when you take the piece off. It is worn on the outside with both faces showing, and marking is only a question of time. On a piece that has been dropped, the rim goes first.