Japanese coin legends

ColinCMR

What does the 2 different old Japanese coin legends mean and what's their significance.
I'm speaking of the Kan-ei Tsuho inscription and the Bunkyu-Eiho inscriptions.

Was the Bunkyu-Eiho legend only used after the 1860s?

Thanks for any information!

sumnom

Kan-ei refers to the period 1624-1644, even though the coins were minted well into the 19th century. Bunkyo refers to the period 1861-1864.

Tsuho means "currency". I m not so sure about Eiho. Literally, it means "eternal treasure". I will guess that "eternal treasure" might mean something like "stable currency".

So, Kanei Tsuho would mean "Currency of the Kanei Period" and Bunkyo Eiho would be something like "Stable Currency of the Bunkyo Period"

I will see if i can find more info.


And yes, I think Bunkyo Eiho was used only after 1863.

sumnom

I found a definition of Eiho as one of a number of "private year names". While imperial courts came up with names for time periods, be they one year or more, according to the Kojien (a Japanese-Japanese dictionary), there were also year/period names that were decided upon unofficially outside the court. Supposedly Eiho is one of these names. I would be surprised if that made it onto a coin but maybe.

Do we have any Japanese coin experts here? I know we do.....

ColinCMR

Cool thanks Sumnom.

shirohniichan

The Bunkyu Eiho 4 mon in copper and brass come in two distinct varieties of the character "bun." The iron seed coins have mintmarks and are a bit more expensive. As my luck would have it, the Hiroshima seed coins are much more expensive.

satootoko

What little "expertise" I have comes to an abrupt end when I venture before Meiji Year 3 (1870) when the "yen" was defined and modern coinage began.

sumnom

Before 1870, it was impossible to have a yen for anything.