How to Identify Chopmarks

This page outlines the easiest method I use to identify chopmarks. If you're trying to figure out the marks on your coins, give it a shot.

First, we'll draw the chopmark
Navigate to https://www.qhanzi.com/index.html

Next, click on the "Draw Hanzi" button if it's not already clicked.

Now use your mouse to draw the strokes of the character.
It's helpful if you can guess the correct orientation of the mark.

As you draw, suggestions will appear down below.
Once you've finished drawing, look at the row of characters and hopefully you recognize on that matches your chopmark.

Now you can copy the character you've identified, to learn more about it.
Copy the character and paste it into one of the following sites, to learn pronunciation (pinyin) and definitions.
Wiktionary
YellowBridge

Alternative method, click on the Multiradical button at the top of this same page, and build the chopmark from radical parts

Helpful tips:

The better you are at understanding the individual parts of the characters, the better you will be able to draw the chopmark successfully, and to find a match. One way to get better at recognizing the parts is to study the radicals.

If you think the word is an ancient form of a modern word, such as seal or bronze script, try searching here:
Chinese Entymology (You'll need to have a word in mind, that you search for)

If you think the chopmark is distinctly Japanese Kanji, you can draw it here:
Draw Japanese Kanji

If you think a chopmark is Cursive/Grass script or some form of calligraphy, and you have a likely candidate, you can enter it here:
Chinese Calligraphy Generator

Look through the pages on this site, I've identified many of the chopmarks on my coins, and looking through a few examples should help you get the feel for what you're looking at on your coin. There are many chopmarks, but not as much variety as you might think, so I may picture a chopmark that matches a chopmark on your coin.

Finally, keep in mind that many chopmarks do not resemble any modern Chinese characters and you may not find a match. Don't be too frustrated, this happens quite often. Sometimes the chopmark is ancient and we have lost the meaning. Another possibility is the mark is a pseudo-character that only had meaning locally. For some chopmarks, we will never know the meaning, just move on to another one if you get stuck.