Chinese Wen- Terrace, UT

---

Partnership: Archaeologist Chris Merritt, Utah SHPO, BLM, Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association

State: Utah

Object: Coin

Era: 19th Century

---

Archaeologists recently recovered this Chinese Wen from the Terrace site, a town near the first transcontinental railroad. In 1870, Terrace included the third-largest Chinatown in Utah, where Chinese railroad workers and independent business owners lived and worked. Since wen currency had no monetary value in the US, its presence represents a secondary circulation of older coins used in gambling or as protective charms. 

The wen also features a characteristic square hole in its center, an ancient convention persisting from the earliest centuries of imperial China. Chinese imperial mints in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) started machine striking coins in the 1890s, but the Terrace site pre-dates that time. Archaeologist Chris Merritt believes this coin was minted in the 1700s to early 1800s.

Shop American Artifacts

Buy on Amazon

---

More Coin Artifacts

---

Sources:

• Akin, Marjorie, James C. Bard, and Gary J. Weisz. "Asian Coins Recovered from Chinese Railroad Labor Camps: Evidence of Cultural Practices and Transnational Exchange." Historical Archaeology 49, no. 1 (2015): 110-21.

• Chang, Gordon H.. Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Built the Transcontinental Railroad. United States: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019.

• Polk, Michael R., and 迈克 · 波克. "Interpreting Chinese Worker Camps on the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah." Historical Archaeology 49, no. 1 (2015): 59-70.

• Polk, Michael R., Christopher W. Merritt, and Kenneth Cannon. "Chinese Workers at Central Pacific Railroad Section Stations, 1870 to 1900." Chinese Railroad Workers of North America Conference, Palo Alto, California, April. 2016.

• Praetzellis, Mary, 玛丽 · 普莱策利, Adrian Praetzellis, and 阿德里安 · 普杂策利. "Commentary on the Archaeology of Chinese Railroad Workers in North America: Where Do We Go from Here?" Historical Archaeology 49, no. 1 (2015): 162-74.

---