Horn Medal / Pendant with gold letter (Chinese ?)

Just wondering if anyone might be able to tell me a bit more about the medal/pendant I have which seems to be made of a type of horn and a gold chinese character .Quite heavy for size.

 

When you look at the Medal/Pendant under a Loupe it looks like the material (horn I think) has lots of little "dots" all over. BY THE WAY, if you click the above Photos they will enlarge so you can maybe see the "dots".

 

i think that's loosely the Chinese symbol for gold...
& I'm unaware of any horn that looks like that....??

 

Wood?

 

seems likely.....sweety !!!

 

I think glazed pottery.

 

would that account for the rough surface.......?

 

It definitely is horn , not pottery or stone. Symbol for gold is useful thanks.

 

really....what type of horn has those striations.....?

 

Which kind of horn do you think it is? Is it translucent?

 

A quick change from "I think" to "definitely".

There appears to be a metal ring around the edge. You say it is heavy for its size. Is there a metal backing as well? If not, you should be able to see light through a slice of horn, if that is what it is, as Any Jewelry has suggested. If there is not a metal backing, horn should not be that heavy.

A better closeup of the surface pattern might help us confirm the material. I would not expect a cross section of any type of horn to show that watered effect.

 

It's the Chinese character QUAN 全 meaning "whole" (also complete) and differs from JIN 金 "gold" (also metal).

 

I saw that on a tattoo site, but could not find corroboration .....
Thanks.....

 

Reason I think it is horn is it has a smell to it ,like animal horn. There is not any thing around it, that is just like the skin of the horn I guess. The back is nothing but the same as front without the gold character.
I will try and get a better photo.

 

Thank you for the info.

 

If I shine a light on one side is shows through the other side.

 

If it is horn it should react to a UV light?

 

Horn isn't heavy.

 

am on about.

Is a ton of horn heavy ?

 

no more heavy than a ton of gold..........but it would fill up a room, as where the gold could hide in a storage trunk.....