I recently purchased some Japanese coins. One of them sparked my curiosity. I have seen this coin on clothing and phone cases, etc, but never in real life. Can anyone identify this coin? The sleeve identifies it as Japanese, but what I have found is that it could be Chinese. The owner had them for well over 60 years.
It reads Yong Le Tong Bao and is from the Ming Dynasty in China 1403-24 AD. This is an interesting ruler: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Di Judging from the thumb an 2x2 I'll guess this is the smaller size Hartill 20.121.
The authoritative Chinese language "Great Dictionary of China Numismatics" has rubbings of 31 different varieties of the yong le tong bao coin so it can be a challenge identifying the exact variety without knowing size, weight, etc. These coins were imported from China and circulated in Japan where they are known as Eiraku Sen. In the late 16th Century, Japan minted silver and gold versions of the coin. For an explanation of why these Chinese coins are frequently found in Japan and other countries, please see my article "Admiral Zheng He and the Yongle Tongbao Coin". Gary
How does one tell a Chinese original from a Japanese copy? Hartill says that many were struck but not put in circulation so it would make sense for the to be quantities of high grade examples. This makes it seem unwise to put any stock in the observation that the coin does not match the look of circulated ones. How is the OP coin different from the two below?
While I find great interest in your article and the newspaper piece it mentions, I fail to see any of this can be taken to prove anything other than someone or some series of people (Chinese or not) carried a coin (for trade or lost pocket piece or whatever) into Africa at some time before the article was written. Coins of Roman Britain have been found in North America but that does not mean Allectus sailed there in the late 3rd century AD. One guess is that they were in the gravel carried as ballast of fur traders to the St. Lawrence but that is no more proven than is any other theory. Certainly it is good to review such finds and see what can be derived as reasonable explanations but a coin in Kenya means no more toward proving direct contact between the Ming and the Kenyans than Augustus wearing silk would prove he got it from a Chinese national on a direct mission from Wang Mang. I am glad the newspaper stuck it that bit about the reason behind the hole being for attachment to a belt. It makes it easier to discount everything they say as poor journalism.
Thanks for the responses. So, does this coin hold any value? I tried looking for an online version of the "Great Dictionary of China Numismatics". Does anone have a link?
I don't follow coin prices but I would guess that a Chinese yong le tong bao coin can probably be bought for $7.00 - $10.00. You won't find a copy of the "Great Dictionary of China Numismatics" online. It is a very large, multi-volume encyclopedia written in Chinese. Gary
Then having seen the linked coin photos, I would guess all three of the above specimens to be Chinese for the lack of characteristics mentioned but I also note that the link mentions uncertainty as to whether one coin is Chinese, Japanese or Annanese so the non specialist collector pretty much has no hope in identifying their coins with any degree of certainty. No? Is there a fourth option of modern fakes made for tourists that we also should be considering?
Of course! There are always modern fakes. But, there are so many authentic coins available at a reasonable price that the fake coins are not a real problem. However, you need to be very careful if you want to buy a silver yong le tong bao. There are very few authentic coins but fakes can be found everywhere. The rarest yong le tong bao coin by far is the "3 qian" (永乐通宝三钱). The qian (钱), in this case, refers to a weight as opposed to a value. This coin is not mentioned in the historical records but is considered to be a trial piece which was never put into circulation. Only two authentic specimens of this coin are known to exist. One specimen is in the collection of the Shanghai Museum. The location of the second specimen is "unknown". Gary
