This one was sold out of Brisbane, Australia. It's a circa-1970 Japan-made "Dansco pattern" type album. Check out the price! https://www.ebay.com/itm/49-JAPANES...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 I really would like such an album, but why do these go for such high (to me) prices? Thanks to gxseries for alerting me to this.
I think the buyer is under the impression that the album is full - it's somewhat hard to tell. A trade dollar coin alone is a $1k + coin but I'm certain it is not included. Makes me wonder how much I would get if I sell my album...
49 coins are shown out of a total of 60+ holes. Clearly some of the more expensive coins are not included. It's a bit deceiving as the album shows an outline of what the coin is supposed to look like on a separate page
If you want to sell, sell now gx. Economic downturn is just around the corner, and the buyers you want won't be there; just lowball snipers like me... [EDIT]: Then again, what the heck do I know...?
Got to admit it's tempting mlov43. At the same time, as I've held onto it perhaps close to a decade (time flies pretty fast!) - I've noticed that this is one of the few items that rarely pop up in the market. Even a used Japan Dansco album in 'ok' condition was sold for 100+ USD recently!
The title of the auction says 49 coins. 49 coins are photographed and available for enlargement. You can see which 49 coins are in the set.
mlov43 and gxseries: Ginza Coins out of Tokyo has just released (in Japanese) a brief assessment of the silver and gold coin market in Japan. According to their article coin prices are at their highest level in over 40 years. Now this could be taken as hype however I have been purchasing coins from them for over ten years. I was last at their Tokyo shop in April of this year. Sure enough prices were high for AU and above. Inventory was also scarce. This observation also follows what I have encountered with another large Tokyo coin shop. BTW, I always get a chuckle out of E-Bay sellers of Asian coins and especially any seller out of China.
Hey Sullykerry, What do you collect in Japanese coins, specifically? Are prices for contemporary coins going up, too? I have yet to find (in my own available market and online) One-Yen and Five-Yen coins in BU (nice looking, not spotted or all scratched up) for years Showa 35, 36 and 37. I notice that such coins are for sale/auction at YahooJapan, but predictably, are off-limits to non-Japanese residents.
Mlov43: I mostly concentrate on Meiji through Showa 20 (1945). On a very selective basis I will purchase some of the gold and silver commemorative coins. Thank you for asking. I note you write about Korean coins. I have yet to venture into the coins of the Japanese occupation.
Mlov43: I forgot to mention that certain Japanese commemorative coins, for example, the gold Yen 100,000 of 1987 (mintage 1,000,000) celebrating the 60 anniversary of Showa has risen in price if you can find it. The higher mintage ( 10,000,000) gold Yen 100,000 has had a more graduated price rise. Gold coins in Japan have strong demand even if they are not Japanese.
@Sullykerry2 - do you interact with Ginza Coins in Japanese or do they also have English services? I have been browsing their site for years (in Japanese) but have never actually tried to order anything from them. I could probably "get by" in Japanese, but that can be risky when purchasing pricier items. 銀座コインですか。はい、コインを買いたい。あの。。。
ewomack: You can reach out to either Takeuchi family member at Ginza Coins. I speak Japanese (not fluently though). They both speak good English. I have just participated for the first time in one of their auctions. If you use TransferWise to make a payment be sure to write the bank's name in "katakana". Transferring funds to Japan can be tricky. Whenever I am visiting Japan, I do stop by Ginza and Taisei. We have a pretty good chuckle about how awful my Japanese can be.
@mlov43 Do you have the 1970s era Dansco? They do come up periodically--one one eBay now with some coins in it, but looks a bit rough and like the celluliod slides are gone. But the original Dansco is a fun one to collect with. There's another album up on eBay (for almost $2K) that has almost all the current coins. @Sullykerry2 Have you been to World Coins Japan? That one is one I've been to years and years ago. Wish I could go back and go to Ginza too. And the money museum in Tokyo--somehow I missed that. @ewomack I've bid a couple times on the Ginza auctions but never won any of theirs. Somehow I have muddled my way through their site and felt like I could have pulled it off. Auction World Japan https://en.auction-world.co/ has been very user friendly for me, in English. Takes PayPal though you can do a money transfer too.
Hi Stork: Great to have your input on this thread as well. I too had been unsuccessful in earlier auctions with both Taisei and Ginza. However, persistence and some Japanese reading knowledge did pay off. Taisei has a 37 coin (no Japanese coins) auction ongoing now. You can register in English. I agree that Auction World is user friendly for the non-Japanese speaker and reader. They will also send you an auction catalog if you request one (on-line). Stork, Ewomack and mlov43: Just remember if you bid and are successful be aware of the conversion and transfer of payment. PayPal will rip your eyeballs off with their FX conversion and transfer costs. TransferWise is a better partner BUT you have to render payment instruction i.e. the recipient's bank in "katakana". You can always ask the recipient to provide the payment details in "katakana". Today I received my two early Meiji 50 sen pieces (one Meiji 3 and the other Meiji 6). Both were accurately described by Ginza Coins. In fact, both Taisei and Ginza do a very good job photographing and describing the coins they put up for auction. I know Stork lived in Japan, She will confirm how well the Japanese wrap purchases. I almost need a blowtorch to open today's packet.
No, I have a "Toho Planning" album (https://www.cointalk.com/threads/japanese-coin-binder.256030/#post-2028911), but it's basically the same as this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Compl...294730?hash=item3b365f700a:g:3D8AAOSwBLlVX-0~ ...except most of the coins in my album are better, and I've gotten nicer examples of the key-date Five-Yen and 10-Yen coins since I posted my album at the above link five years ago. I'm now only looking to replace my Showa 35, 36, and 37 One-Yen and Five-Yen coins in my Toho Planning year set with BU examples. So, that's where I am with my Japan year set... and I'm not interested in spending $2K for another!
