Japanese 4 Mon Coin With Marking On Rim?

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,153
Mike100 New Member United States 2 Posts	Posted 10/25/2014 3:46 pm I have a coin that I've identified as a Japanese 4 Mon coin. My grandfather brought it back from WWII when he was in the South Pacific. As pictured, it has some Japanese characters on the rim. I have searched online and see no other example of this. I have identified the characters from right to left as THREE, DAY(SUN), MONTH(MOON) and VILLAGE? Seems like this might be a date? Wondering if anyone knows if the coin was made this way or if this inscription was made later? It's a bit of a mystery to me. Thanks! Report this Post to the Staff

packrat1 Valued Member United States 185 Posts	Posted 10/25/2014 10:42 pm I've never seen any like this either so my guess would be that the coin was stamped. Could you show a straight on picture of the reverse side? Report this Post to the Staff
bungle Valued Member Japan 349 Posts	Posted 10/26/2014 06:44 am Your identification of each character is correct. Together they are pronounced Mikazukimura The characters are Mi (Three) Ka (Sun) (Tsuki) Mura (Village) The tsu sound becomes dzu or zu in the middle of words. It is a theme park token, from this place: http://www.mikazukimura.com Inside the park, food stands only accept the tokens. I think they refer to them as 1 mon, to avoid confusion. Inside the park, you can exchange 100 yen for 1 mon. This theme park opened in 1998, but I hope your grandfather got back before then... Report this Post to the Staff
Mike100 New Member United States 2 Posts	Posted 10/26/2014 5:59 pm Thanks for the info. Bungle. I had this coin (token) in a box with a lot of other coins, including several that my grandfather had brought back. Some from The Philippines, etc. Guess I was wrong about it's exact origin. I've traveled to Japan several times, but only once since 1998. I certainly never visited that theme park. Really strange. I have no idea how I came to have this. It's also interesting that it REALLY does look like a very old coin. :) Don't worry, my grandfather hasn't been a POW since the 40's. Lol! Report this Post to the Staff
manymore Valued Member United States 347 Posts	Posted 10/26/2014 8:03 pm bungle - Shin Kanei coins tend to be well-made. The top character (寬) on this coin is not written correctly. There appears to be an extra vertical line to the left of the 宀. Do you know if this was intentional in order to differentiate it from an authentic coin? Gary Report this Post to the Staff
bungle Valued Member Japan 349 Posts	Posted 10/27/2014 01:56 am Gary, I found an old newspaper article that says they are basically replicas. It should be cheaper to make them in bulk, and they wouldn't be dirty and you know exactly what they are made of, be sure they have no lead etc. Probably the extra vertical line is to differentiate from a real one as you say. It was not too long ago that they were exchangeable for rin, and collectors might get angry if they were perfect replicas. You would write 宀 with three strokes. First the top vertical line, second the vertical line on the left. So it doesn't look too unnatural to me. Report this Post to the Staff
manymore Valued Member United States 347 Posts	Posted 10/27/2014 4:46 pm Very interesting information. Thanks! Gary Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,153

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