How to Identify Antique Japanese Coins
Ancient Japanese coins owe a lot to Chinese coins from the same era, roughly 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D. Many of Japan's coins copied Chinese money from the Tang Dynasty, but there are slight differences in the weight and feel of the coins and amount circulated.
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Instructions
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Notice the similarities between Japan's ancient cowry shell currency, and the earliest Chinese coins. The Chinese used cowry shells as their first currency, and Japan adapted the same monetary system after its first contact with China. Cowry shells resemble small, crude white seashells.
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Observe ancient Fuhonsen, one of the first conventional Japanese coins. Some of these coins were still attached to a coin tree (for casting them) when they were first discovered during an archeological dig in 1999. These coins are round and bronze, with a square hole in the middle. A wooden panel found next to the coins dated their origin at around 700 B.C.
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Inspect Waido Kaichin coins. Cast in the same way as Fuhonsen, they are made of copper with square holes in the middle and inscriptions on the top, bottom and sides. They have a slight gray color and, like other early Japanese coins, bear the handiwork of Chinese moneymakers.
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Compare Japanese Kai Yuan to their inspiration, the Chinese Kai Yuan. Japan's coinage continued to copy its Chinese counterparts well into the eighth century A.D. The copper Kai Yuan bore Chinese script to each side of the coin's middle hole, indicating the denomination and the emperor's name.
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Check out rare gilt Japanese gold coins. Issued during Emperor Junnin's reign, the Kaiki Shoho has the same round shape and square middle hole as the aforementioned copper coins. The Imperial house also cast a copper version called Mannen Tsuho and the identical silver, Taihei Genpo.
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Look at the Kochosen, Japan's first widely circulated ancient copper coins. Between 700 and 950 A.D. the Japanese money system was revamped several times, and each time citizens had to exchange their old copper coins for the new versions. Due to a copper shortage in the eighth century, later Kochosen weigh considerably less than earlier coins. Kochosen have the same round shape, inscriptions and square hole as other ancient Japanese coins.
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