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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Collector1966, post: 1723404, member: 17919&quot;]The mini koban coin was made from 1860 to 1867. Its dimensions are approximately 36mm in long diameter, and 20mm in short diameter, and it is somewhat thinner than a dime. It weighs 3.3 grams, but it is only 57.4% gold, with the remaining 42.6% being silver. Thus, the actual gold weight is 1.89 grams. For comparison, the koban that was minted in 1859 was 55mm X 30mm, and it weighed 8.97 grams with approximately the same gold/silver ratio.</p><p><br /></p><p>At any rate, the koban had a value of one ryo, which was considered at one time to be lot of money. I have heard that one ryo at one time was the equivalent of roughly $1000 today, but given the debasement that happened to Japan&#039;s old currency, particularly in the last 15 years or so of the Shogunate (called <i>Bakufu</i> or <i>Edo-jidai</i> in Japan), I imagine its buying power had seriously diminished by the time the last of these coins were made. When the old system of <i>mon, shu, bu </i>and<i> ryo </i>was replaced with the <i>sen</i> and <i>yen</i> beginning in 1870, the old debased ryo was given a value of one gold yen (which had the same specifications as the US gold dollar at the time), even though the old ryo contained a bit more gold.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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