Back on 12/12 (see original post here: http://www.thechipboard.com/index.cgi/md/read/id/1368986/sbj/chinese-characters-translate-help/) I asked for help in translating some Chinese characters on a chip. The ultimate decision was that they said “south” or “south direction” and the “NF” was “Nan Fang” which was the pronunciation of the characters, or “Nan Fang.” I was able to trade for a set of these with Jamison Pike. See pic #1

In doing more research, I found that there was an old card room in San Francisco called Southern’s Club – Nam Fong. The info (shown below – Pic #2) shows the club was active in the 1930s, and as you can see, the name is pretty close to “south, as are the actual characters on the tokens. Since Jay said he got the chips near SF, it makes sense that they were in use near there.

But…that doesn’t mean that the chip came from there. For one thing, the character is a bit different, and I realize that there can be slight variations in language (Western, Westerner, Westin, etc. as an English example). Another would be timing, as it was suggested that the Nan Fang chips were from the 1960s…that’s a big time gap.

Also this: One of Jay’s chips has a character that is very definitely SOUTH, but the initials are NH, not NF (the pink one). If it’s not “Nan Fang” or “Nam Fong” what IS it? I jokingly say it stands for “nice hand.”

And if you compare the characters, they are similar, but not the same – the one on the other 3 chips has a more complete top box. I can tell you that when I use Google translate and draw the character on the pink chip, it comes up “south” right away. When I draw the other, more complex chip, it throws up and cannot come up with any recognizable translation.

And then there’s the chip from a Vancouver BC card room marked with a very similar set of characters, with “MF” for initials (http://www.thechipboard.com/index.cgi/md/read/id/1369015/sbj/san-francisco-cardroom/).

F = fang or fong, but M, not N. WTH?

So I am confused at this riddle wrapped in an enigma, etc. Can anyone offer some assistance, or tell me where else I can look for clues (it’s fun but frustrating).