Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="The Eidolon, post: 7361800, member: 102103"]Another Japanese Kanei Tsuhou coin (寛永通寶).  This one doesn't have the waves on the reverse, so I believe it is a 1 mon instead of 4.  These were made from the early 1600s to the mid-1800s, with hundreds of minor variations identifiable only by subtle differences in the calligraphy.  According to Hartill (Early Japanese Coins), the best way to narrow it down is to look for distinctive variants in the forms of any of the four characters.  In this case, the two feet of "hou" (寶) nearly touch in the middle, while in most variants they are well separated.  So my best guess is Hartill 4.196 "unknown mint", circa 1740.24+ mm, 3.1 g, iron composition?[ATTACH=full]1283048[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1283049[/ATTACH] Here are some comparison photos next to a 4 mon Kanei Tushou (R) and Bunkyu Eihou (L).  You can see it is significantly smaller than the 4 mon coins, and of a darker color than these copper alloy coins.  So I think it may actually be made of iron.  If you compare the feet of the hou (寶) on the center coin and the one on the lower right, you can see mow much closer they come to touching on my iron coin than in the typical character form.[ATTACH=full]1283050[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1283051[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]