Strange Japanese stuff - what is this?

MadMuffin

I recently bought a collection of old Japanese coins to add some spice to my world coin collection. I've had good fun trying to ID them. Now I am left with three "coins" that look more like amulets or medals to me. On the other hand they do have Japanese numbers on them which could indicate some kind of coin or token.

Can anyone tell me what these are?

Number 1 (46 mm)





Number 2 (35 x 30 mm)





Number 3 (39 x 37 mm)




Any help appreciated!

Marcel

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Strange Japanese stuff - what is this? >>

You identified it right there in the title. Strange Japanese stuff.

Seriously, I have no idea. Tokens of some kind, I guess. I like the second one. Obviously it was meant to be worn, as the hole testifies.

The person(?) on the first looks a bit like an anthropomorphic rooster, à la Foghorn Leghorn. Either he is shoveling something into that dog-cow's mouth, or he's leading it along by having suctioned its nose with a toilet plunger.

Sapyx

The top one is indeed a pictorial charm - It's a Japanese man dragging a donkey by a rope around its neck. This one on zeno.ru is one of several of the same design filed under "Japanese gambling tokens".

The second and third objects are replica/fantasy Japanese "military tokens".

Object #2 is a Edo 50 mon; if genuine 50 mon tokens like this actually exist, they are extremely rare. Apparently these have been replicated since the 1920s.

The third object is a replica of a 24 mon token from Akita. This one is apparently genuine, while this one is fake.

MadMuffin

Thanks! Even though they are copies or fantasies I am going to keep them. They will make good showpieces - those are the kind of "coins" that make people ask questions about our hobby Besides that, I like the designs.

/ Marcel