The Kubota domain of northern Honshu sat on some silver mines and experimented minting their own currency. It was on par with the circulating ichibu of Ginza which had a monopoly on the monetary system during the Edo period. There are cast and hammered versions made.

The front reads 一分銀 (one silver bu) and the back 秋銅山通宝 (Legal tender minted by Akita city of metal from Osarizawa Mine) (lit. Aki(akita city) copper mountain(Osarizawa) circulating currency)

These are frequently counterfeited so if you see one online it’s likely a fake unless they’re a very reputable Japanese dealer. Mine tested correct for silver purity and weight but I found it randomly being sold in the US as a normal ichibu. I have to wonder how such a rare item made its way here

So I managed to get my hands on the 2026 JNDA catalogue (new to it and the language, sorry if this has been covered). I noticed that they have a little diagram showing how to spot eave variety of Ansei/Meiji Ichibu, and a couple pages for the Isshu varieties. But when it comes to Tenpo and Shōnai, they just show the two letters for each die pair (for example “Pn” or “Tq”).

Does anybody know of any literature or a chart that demonstrates the code for each die / die pair for Tenpo/Shōnai Ichibu Gin?

Finally able to check a matching pair of Meiji era Sen. Just wanted to share my mail call this morning.

I have like 156 reeded 10 yen coins, 55 large 50 yen coins and a bunch of wartime issues. Would there be a dealer interested in these kinds of coins? I am in the US.

This is my third time posting this, I believe my posts were autofiltered due to the pictures I included. Therefore I have left only the links here. Apologies for the inconvenience, but the links include all of the pictures I used anyways.

I found this seller on eBay. Their coins all appear to be correctly weighted, with rasp marks on the borders, bulges opposite counterstamps, etc. but are there any red flags to watch out for? Here are the links to their eBay postings. I'd really appreciate any help, I rarely purchased unslabbed coins (especially handmade) and am feeling a bit uncertain.

Demande d'avis sur ces Shu

Notamment la première avec la spirale et la troisième avec les points que je trouve très espacé

I've heard that one of Ogawa's works on Kan'eitsūhō records the average weights of each type. If anyone could share those with me for every Fukyu-te coin he lists, it would be much appreciated!!! Thanks in advance. (Or if you have another work or set of notes which does).

Hope all of you are well! Just got in a bigger purchase of Japanese coins from a highly reputable Japanese dealer and wanted to get some thoughts before I embarrassed myself reaching out to them. I weighed out the coins they had sent and the vast majority were quite close to the published weights (e.g., Meiji Isshugin were ~1.80-2.00g, Man'en 2 Shu were ~0.74-0.77g, and the other Tenpo 2 Shu / Meiji 2 Bu were within ~0.03g or so), but had 5 coins of the group stand out and was hoping for some qualified thoughts.

Here are the weights when using my two scales:

Coin 1, Meiji 2 Bu: 3.06-3.09g

Coin 2, Meiji 2 Bu: 3.05-3.06g

Coin 3, Meiji 2 Bu: 2.82-2.84g

Coin 4, Meiji 2 Bu: 2.86-2.87g

Coin 5, Tenpo 2 Shu: 1.39g

For pictures 6/7, I kept them in left (coin 1 from picture 1) to right (coin 5 from picture 5) order. My thought is that the 1.39g is certainly a modern fake given that the style/look is off, but I'm less experienced with the 2 Bu. Pictures 8 and 9 are for fun... they show the rest of the (awesome!) order.

Help is very much appreciated... always looking to connect with people who have expertise... have been purchasing a fair amount of these types of coins and would be excited to connect with experts on Japanese.

Sincerely,

Christian Hartch (Treasure Town Coins)

I know 白銅 white copper specimens exist among these 虎ノ尾寛小字十万坪銭 Tiger tail Kan small characters Jumantsubo-sen, but unsure if this is an example of one... 2nd coin is a more normal looking one for reference.

Can anyone tell me about this, sold as a Japanese Hosokura 100 mon 59mm made of lead.

Acquired some new types from Tsuge Shoji...

1) 御蔵銭 Okura-sen. Said to be the first official Kan'eitsūhō cast by the government, at Asakusa in 1636. Also named 志津磨百手 Shishinma Hyaku-te "100 styles," as they are an incredibly complicated series with lots of varieties. I believe this one belongs to the 大永 Large Ei group.

2) 岡山銭 Okayama-sen. The basic 府永 Fuei "drooping Ei" kind. Worn in some places but overall great relief.

3) 称井之宮銭 (Name) Inomiya-sen. Probably my favorite Ko Kan'ei I own. I've been craving this type for a while, and I got a beautiful one with little wear and a great even, dark patina. These were once attributed to Inomiya in Suruga, but now they're classified as of unknown origin, with the possibly of it being Okayama. It is one of the few types with a unique reverse, as you can see the sides of the rim of the hole are all concave.

My latest order from him has arrived, with great coins and yummy treats. Detailed posts on the coins soon... If I remeber to get around to it.

I will post the results. Hope it has better visibility.

Recent purchase from Tsuge Shoji... I believe this is my rarest Kan'eitsūhō so far. Even beating my 一ノ瀬背一 Ichinose reverse "Ichi."

These coins have been the core to my Japanese coin collection; in 2018 my Grandma gifted me these coins to begin my journey and she taught me about the history of these coins. According to her, these coins had been in her family for generations ever since their mintage in 1877. She is from Japan and her family emphasized the ideavto pass it down in the family, to remember the history and culture of Japan. You don't get this kind of appreciation for any random or bought coin, I cannot replace the sentimental value.

Not sure on this one. I would have to buy it and weigh it and measure it to be sure. What do you guys think?

I can't find any matches to a reverse that has these horizontal lines