How Do You 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. 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. 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. Inspect Waido Kaichin coins. Cast in the same way as Fuhonsen, they are made of copper with sq
