Other sources for Modern Japanese coins?

mlov43

Just wondering if anyone on this forum would be aware of some good sources for modern (1948-1980) Japanese coins.

I'm looking for a few dates of the 1 Yen, 5 yen, and 10 yen coins (not the silver or gold coins, just contemporary business strikes: aluminum, copper-based coins).
1Yen: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1969
5Yen: 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967.
10 Yen: 1957, 1958, 1962

I'm looking to get the best grade possible.

I know the usual places (LCS, area coin shows, ebay, vcoins, ebid, bidstart, MA Coin stores), and they have been helpful.

Any suggestions would be very appreciated. Otherwise, I'll just wait it out and see what comes up at the usual places.

Thanks in advance...

Stork

It's not as easy at you might think, and supposedly inexpensive/common coins have proven extremely hard to find. The worst have been the tin or aluminum coins from the WWII/post war era. So cheap in the catalog, yet hunting them down was an effort. I still have more of those would like to upgrade!

I was lucky and lived in Japan for awhile--I pulled some from circulation and visited a few coin shows. That's not really feasible to recommend however . Otherwise, I have spent a fair amount of time flipping through boxes at shows and haunting ebay. I have also been fortunate to run across sellers of quality coins here too. I don't really have any new ideas other than what you have listed....unless you can take a trip to Tokyo .

There was a gentleman who was more frequently seen on the NGC boards that was a collector of US coins, but he is Japanese. I just logged in over there for the first time in about 3 years, and I'll try and remember who he is and if he is still active. There is also a dealer I have met in Tokyo--his wares are not generally geared to circulation coinage, but he might help. I'll ask him...I was going to ask him about something else anyway.


Cathy

Stork

I emailed the dealer in Tokyo, he would be happy to hear from you, even though it's not what he ebays, it sounds like he can help you out. If you go to evay the seller is arrowtokyo and his name is Herb. I haven't bought but a few coins from him, but he is very polite and friendly. IIRC I have gotten a couple of my JNDA catalogs from him.

SaorAlba

I'd like to know also. I always thought Japanese coins, particularly the coins from the Shogunate era, are very fascinating. There really doesn't seem to be a lot of collector interest in coins in Japan though. When I was there I never managed to find coin dealers, but in China it was completely different - coin dealers everywhere.

Stork

I saw Clark Smith at the Tokyo show a couple times, and his site occasionally has non gold items. I check eBay and NEN and Civitas periodically. The latter two won't likely have what the OP is interested in, but they have nice coins. I've bought a few from Julian L at Baltimore and Amey (can't recall his first name off the top of my head).

The pre-Meiji stuff is not as prevalent...I don't really collect it, but I do see the occasional items for sale by the usual suspects. I'll have o start really reading the Hartill book on Early Japanese Coins (I can't seem to link on my tablet right now, but it's on Amazon). It was good and may help make the collecting of pre-Meiji a little more accessible to N
non-Japanese readers.

cladking

A lot of these are extremely tough. The low prices in Krause are in no way indicative
of the home market prices. Keep in mind that even though the coins sell for far more
in Japan that there is almost no market at all and very little demand. The low prices
are the result of this tiny demand and not a significant supply.

This is about the only country that I'll collect in AU because not only are they available
in AU but they are tough even in this grade.

My favorite is the 1968 100Y and I actually have an Unc of this and a couple AU's. They
aren't for sale of course.

The aluminum coins were available a little bit in the '70's but in those days I had no
respect for aluminum so ignored them. They sure aren't around any longer. For those
who buy Japanese be sure to remove the coins from mint sets (especially '75-'78) be-
cause the packaging isn't stable and the coins will be ruined. Despite the large mint set
mintages of these nice pristine coins will still be a little tough. If you catch them early
enough a bath in acetone/ isopropyl alcohol mix might restore them. Once the green
starts appearing it's probably too late.

The best bet is old dealers stock. These weren't widely available even in those days but
there were a few around and these do pop up in old collections once in a while.

The lack of interest in modern Japanese is almost total.

SaorAlba

I did see something on Coinflation about the Japanese mint contracting a supplier for 26 million blanks for 1 yen coins - seems like a very small mintage- and these are for circulation to make up for the new 8% sales tax.

SYRACUSIAN

Cladking, thank you for reminding me my biggest mistake in my coin buying during the last three-four years.

A few months ago, Noble of Australia (that used to be Spink Australia over a decade ago), had put up for auction a Dansco (no gold) type set Japanese album 1870-1980(?) for sale. The album contained 3 yens, of which two were unc, and one AU-UNC, two or three 50 sens, all unc and a total of 53 coins out of 72 -I think- in grades from VF-UNC. There was no picture of the album that was supposed to be in very good to excellent condition or of the coins inside, but Noble is an auction house that doesn't hype coins in their descriptions generally. I've had a few long discussions with Cathy, in order to reach a realistic estimate of the lot: the 3 yens, the 3 50 sens and the unfindable WW2 tin or zinc coins in VF that even Tokyo dealers don't have them, plus the cost of the collectable and very rare album itself, which we conservatively estimated at ~$200 empty. I emailed them and asked them the shipping fees (registered) for such a heavy lot to Athens, and their answer was AU$80. After all these calculations, I've decided that placing a bid with my budget at that time, would have been in vain, especially considering the high number of collectors with Japanese descent that live in Australia, only to find out after the auction, that the entire album with its 53 coins out of 72 sold for AU$450.

I forgot to say, that my fondness for Japanese coins had its roots in a coin bought over a decade ago, which Cathy's gift of the Japanese coin catalogue from 2007 increased a lot, but the idea of getting that unfindable album with 2/3 of the coins already inside was an opportunity that I simply couldn't let it pass by, and yet I did. Never, ever think that you stand no chances at a lot that will be auctioned. There are several notable exceptions, one of which was the one that I just described and that I will regret for years to come.

Stork

I didn't remember the end of that story--someone got a huge bargain! The albums are so hard to find! A few years back I tried to find out how hard it would be to get a custom album done and it was prohibitively expensive and would have required a VERY large minimum order. IIRC it was Intercept I asked. I wonder if Dansco would ever bring it back? It seems like it shouldn't be too hard to manage, and they could update it with the current Emperor. The original stops at 1970.

Cladking, you are so right about those aluminums. I flipped through tons of books while I was in Japan and never found much that could be gem. Maybe the dealers had a conspiracy to hide the good stuff when the American female (both being quite odd there) walked by. Not really of course. I think the time is past for pulling from the old style mint sets, like you said the PVC has ruined so much.

Tokeiski

Hi everyone. I am an American based here in Tokyo and have been for many years. I collect higher end Japanese stuff, attend all the shows and auctions, and know all the dealers here. I would be willing to assist with some want lists etc. for anyone willing to possibly help me with some other World and US things. I will point out that the biggest annual show, The Tokyo International Coin Convention is coming up in exactly one month at the beginning of May so it may be a good chance for me to find specific, or unusual stuff. Just shoot me a PM and we can take it from there.

Best regards.

Stork

Thank you...I may have to take you up on that! I went to the Tokyo show in 2010 and 2011 (and once in 2004 IIRC). I enjoyed it very much. I wish you could send me some Grape Calpis Zero too. And some cans of chu-hi...I miss Japan!