Medallion

[Sphere]

hello all,

I have a medallion and i was wondering what was written on it...

So far, I have:

(counterclockwise starting at top)

• "tian" Heaven
  
• "zi" To care For
  
• "tai" Adult Male
  
• "ding" Very Large
  

this makes sense to me as "god loves man greatly"

(counterclockwise starting at top)

• "dao" (noun) Road, Path, Way, Means, Doctrine
  
• *unknown*
  
• "guang" (noun) Light. (adj.) Smooth, Glossy. (adverb) merely, Purely, Completely
  
• "tong" (adj.) Passable, Open, All, Coherent. (verb) Move Unobstructed. (noun) Expert
  

feel free to tell me how far off i am...

I have attached scans,

thanks for your help,

Scott

[leeyah]

These are not medallions, they are probably traditional Chinese coins judging by the square-shaped hole in the middle.

1. coin says: 天下太平 >> 太平 is usually connected with the Taiping rebellion of 1851

2. coin says: 道光通寳 >> 道光 refers to Emperor Xuanzong( 宣宗) of Qing dynasty

[jbradfor]

太平 can also, I believe, be translated as peace. 天下 means world-wide. So another translation for 天下太平 could be " peace through-out the land".

If you're curious, here is the wikipedia article on Emperor Xuanzong: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daoguang_Emperor .