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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Milesofwho, post: 3615364, member: 91469&quot;]Well, I went to the Summer FUN show. This time’s big theme for me was Pre-Meiji Japan. I feel like I came out pretty well, if buying every type I could except for the prohibitively expensive types counts. I’ll start by denomination.</p><p>1 mon[ATTACH=full]968502[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]968493[/ATTACH] This 1 mon has a mintmark, Bun (文), which signifies that this coin was cast in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) from 1668 (the 8th year of the Kanbun era, thus bun as a mark) until 1683. This type was at least at first cast from the remains of a large image of the Bhudda that was toppled by an earthquake in 1662. Hartill lists this type as the Saiji (细字, delicate characters) type. It goes well with my other mintmarked mon from Sado (佐渡).</p><p>100 mon</p><p>[ATTACH=full]968494[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]968495[/ATTACH]</p><p>This type of 100 mon was cast at various places from 1835 to 1870. This coin was very profitable for the government to manufacture, so other domains who wanted in on the profits illicitly cast it. Hartill describes the signature at the bottom of the reverse as “a mint official’s.” What official would it be, and what is their name?</p><p>1 shu, nanryo[ATTACH=full]968501[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]968496[/ATTACH] This coin was first made in 1829, and continued until 1837. Nanryo means “pure silver”, which this coin lives up to with a silver purity of 98.9%. The denomination is actually not given, with the obverse instead reading “take sixteen to exchange for one Ryo (両, the standard gold coin, better known as a Koban).” The reverse displays a Fundo, a conventional symbol for an official weight, an incuse stamp meaning “Guaranteed”, the words Silver Mint and the name of the mint official, Joze. This was probably my best deal at the show.</p><p>1 shu, Ansei</p><p>[ATTACH=full]968497[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]968498[/ATTACH]</p><p>This shu was made during the Ansei period and beyond (1854-1865). Due to the opening of Japan to foreign trade and the ensuing rush by foreign merchants to gain quick profits, this type is now very common. The obverse now displays the actual denomination, along with the metal it is made of, silver. It actually has decent silver quality, 96.8%. The small round stamp on the reverse is not official. Any ideas on what it is?</p><p>2 shu, Tempo era</p><p>[ATTACH=full]968499[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]968500[/ATTACH]</p><p>This coin was first made in 1832, a bit before the 100 mon above, and lasted until 1858. The obverse has a Kiri (crest) of Paulownia leaves, which is a government emblem. The denomination is below. This looks gold, but would better be described as electrum, with a gold content of 29.8%. The reverse shows the characters and signature of the Gold Mint official Mitsutsugu. I do have one question about this type. The previous issue of this denomination was at the turn of the 18th century. What caused this seemingly sudden revival of this coin?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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