Hi I was hoping someone could help me out with any info on how common or rare these coins are, how much they may be worth or any other interesting info on them. They look to be Japanese and fairly old. I found them in a bag of international coins left by my wifes grandfather. He collected them in his army days and their are some pretty cool coins in there, including some NAZI coins. But these definately stood out. Also there is very little info in international coins in the bookstore or library, everything is on US Coins. Can anyone suggest any web sit that gives info, history, and can help in appraising coins. Thanks Mike
Mike, I wish I were at home with my reference books to specifically identify and attribute your silver and gold pre-Meiji coins. Both are in excellent condition, and the slight off-center appearnace of the silver one is typical. I don't collect anything before 1867, but I do recognize your coins as either ichi-bu, ni-bu, ishu, or ni-shu, probably from the 1860-66 period, and no older than the very late 18th Century if my recollection is to be trusted. They were relatively plentiful, and inexpensive during and shortly after the US Occupation of Japan in the decade following the end of WW II, which is consistent with your understanding of their source. Google "Lion Coins Japan" and you should turn up a website run by an Englishman with a considerable amount of information on both modern and pre-Meiji Japanese coins. You should also recheck your library - it undoubtedly has, or can get on interlibrary loan, the 19th Century edition of the Standard Catalog of World Coins by Krause & Mishler. BTW if I were at home I would have access to my smileys library, and could give you a proper welcome to CoinTalk.
That would be the reverse side of the coin. And I see what GX means. This is a 19th century ichibu, and I'm sure Satootoko can give more details, as this is far from my expertise. But the reverse side is backward. Here is what it is supposed to look like:
I almost forgot the gold Your pic is upside down for that coin. Attached is a pic of what it should look like. I believe Satootoko is well more the expert on Japanese coins around here, but I would have second thoughts about those coins being genuine. The silver coin is an ichi-bu or 1 bu. You can see that designated by the '-' meaning one at the top of the obverse, instead of a '=' meaning 2 for a ni-bu. On the gold coin, you can tell it's a ni-bu (2 bu) because of the '=' on the left side of the coin when you turn it around. Right now, you see the '=' on the right side of the coin (where it should be), but remember, this coin is upside down. So when you turn it the right way, the '=' ends up on the left side (reading right-to-left japanese, you end up with bu-ni, not ni-bu). My Craig manual gives four types of nibu with the following authentications: 13x22mm, 6.5gr. 13x22mm, 5.6gr. 12x19mm, 3.3gr. 12x19mm, 3.0gr. I would weigh and measure the nibu (gold) coin. The following pic is what the coin should look like:
Wow thay are different, I can vaguely recal seeing the silver type in my Dad's collection as a kid but never the gold one :thumb: De Orc
A word of warning to you - there are some very deceptive forgeries of these coins! Be extremely careful,& weigh the piece. Aidan.
Yes Inverted image Sorry Guys, Inverted bottom image after scanning to get them to line up over each other in picture. Should have rescan rather than flipping. Should have realized that that would definately make a difference in the forms. First time doing this. but having a great time going through all these coins. Seems old gramps traveled alot. Mike
