r/JapaneseCoins

Hope all of you are well! Just got in a bigger purchase of Japanese coins from a highly reputable Japanese dealer and wanted to get some thoughts before I embarrassed myself reaching out to them. I weighed out the coins they had sent and the vast majority were quite close to the published weights (e.g., Meiji Isshugin were ~1.80-2.00g, Man'en 2 Shu were ~0.74-0.77g, and the other Tenpo 2 Shu / Meiji 2 Bu were within ~0.03g or so), but had 5 coins of the group stand out and was hoping for some qualified thoughts.

Here are the weights when using my two scales:

Coin 1, Meiji 2 Bu: 3.06-3.09g

Coin 2, Meiji 2 Bu: 3.05-3.06g

Coin 3, Meiji 2 Bu: 2.82-2.84g

Coin 4, Meiji 2 Bu: 2.86-2.87g

Coin 5, Tenpo 2 Shu: 1.39g

For pictures 6/7, I kept them in left (coin 1 from picture 1) to right (coin 5 from picture 5) order. My thought is that the 1.39g is certainly a modern fake given that the style/look is off, but I'm less experienced with the 2 Bu. Pictures 8 and 9 are for fun... they show the rest of the (awesome!) order.

Help is very much appreciated... always looking to connect with people who have expertise... have been purchasing a fair amount of these types of coins and would be excited to connect with experts on Japanese.

Sincerely,

Christian Hartch (Treasure Town Coins)

Can anyone tell me about this, sold as a Japanese Hosokura 100 mon 59mm made of lead.

Acquired some new types from Tsuge Shoji...

1. 御蔵銭 Okura-sen. Said to be the first official Kan'eitsūhō cast by the government, at Asakusa in 1636. Also named 志津磨百手 Shishinma Hyaku-te "100 styles," as they are an incredibly complicated series with lots of varieties. I believe this one belongs to the 大永 Large Ei group.

2. 岡山銭 Okayama-sen. The basic 府永 Fuei "drooping Ei" kind. Worn in some places but overall great relief.

3. 称井之宮銭 (Name) Inomiya-sen. Probably my favorite Ko Kan'ei I own. I've been craving this type for a while, and I got a beautiful one with little wear and a great even, dark patina. These were once attributed to Inomiya in Suruga, but now they're classified as of unknown origin, with the possibly of it being Okayama. It is one of the few types with a unique reverse, as you can see the sides of the rim of the hole are all concave.

My latest order from him has arrived, with great coins and yummy treats. Detailed posts on the coins soon... If I remeber to get around to it.