That thing you see a lot in Taiwan but don’t really get in Hamuya①

Hello everyone, it’s Takky!!
When you go to Taiwan, you see things that seem like good luck charms, right?
I found one in Hamuya too, so today I want to look into what it is
and what it means!!

A certain mysterious character

The character on the coin in the image above.
I always thought it was the “biang” from Biangbiang noodles, but it was a different character.

Biangbiang noodles

This time’s character

When you compare them like this, they’re completely different characters, aren’t they?

What does it mean?

Apparently, this character is a ligature formed by combining the characters “招財” (Zhāocái ) and “進寶” ( jìnbǎo).
In Chinese, it means “to attract wealth and summon treasure,” and it seems to be a very popular auspicious phrase.

Now that you mention it, I do tend to see it more in commercial places than religious ones.

By the way, the “𰻞 biang” is also a ligature, but apparently it doesn’t make sense when broken down. What the heck? Is that even possible?

On the coin’s reverse side are the characters for “sudden wealth.” It seems like it might attract money…

Summary

This time I looked into the mysterious characters.
How was it?
I’d assumed it meant something like “inviting good fortune,” but it actually means “inviting wealth”!!

This coin is displayed somewhere inside Hamuya!!
When you stay here, why don’t you try to find it!!

Well then, everyone, stay safe today!!!!