1835-1870 Japan 100 Mon Tenpotsuho 天 保 通 寶 Emperor Niko 當 百 Edo Period Rare Coin

Description

100 Mon "Tenpōtsūhō"
ONE BUY = ONE COIN
Features
Issuer
Japan
Emperor
Ninko
Type
Standard circulation coin
Years
1835-1870
Value
100 Mon = 1⁄40 Ryō
Currency
Ryō (
1601-1867
)
Composition
Bronze (Cu 78%, Pb 12%, Sn 10%)
Weight
About 20 g
Diameter
About 49 mm
Thickness
2.6 mm
Shape
Oval (With a square hole)
Technique
Cast
Orientation
Medal alignment ↑↑
Demonetized
31 December 1891
Number
N# 11614
References
C# 7,  DHJ# 5.5-12
Obverse
Four vertical characters divided by hole
Lettering:
天
保
通
寶
Translation:
Tenpo
Currency
Reverse
Value above hole and signature of the mint official below
Lettering:
當
百
Translation:
Equal
Hundred
Edge
Smooth, paulownia stamps on the left and right side (various sizes and forms exist)
Comments
Tenpōtsūhō
was idea of
Kinza
to compete with Ginza's
Kan'eitsūhō 4 Mon
. The first lot was casted in 15 months period between 1835 and 1836, with a total of
29 710 700
pieces casted. The production was restarted again in mid-1837 and until 1842, additional
10 024 500
pieces casted. The Edo government gained
180 800 Ryō
of profit for these cast.
The production was then restarted again in 1847 and in 1865, a new
Senza
was established in
Nanba, Osaka
, which casted the coin until 1868. After Meiji Restoration, the currency official of the new government restarted the cast, between 1868 and 1870,
63 913 752
pieces were casted. The total mintage since the first cast is
484 804 054
pieces.
Officially only produced in the mints of Honza in Edo and Osaka. However, because it was so profitable to make them, they were illegally cast in more than 10 provincial mints like Kurume, Satsuma, Fukuoka, Kochi, Yamaguchi, Aizu, Sendai, Akita and Morioka. Mito Domain was one that get permission to cast from Edo government.
Official coins were cast with very fine sand from Bosho and have a smooth field, unofficial casts used a much coarser sand and have much more grainy fields.
More than
586 740 000
pieces were withdrawn in Meiji period. The number exceeded the official mintage for more than a hundred million pieces. As not all coins were withdrawn, it is likely that more than
200 000 000
pieces of provincial issue were casted.
After the establishment of the modern currency system this 100 mon coin was valued at only 8 rin. Due to low value, less than 1 Sen compared to the size, and being in interchange of old and new era, the word
Tenpōsen
were used for describing outdated person or person that has incompability to develop themselves to the new era.
ONE BUY = ONE COIN