Item number: A2313

Year: AD 1668-1868

Material: Brass

Size: 24.7 x 24.6 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 3.45 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a brass Kan’ei Tsūhō coin bearing the “文” (Bun) character on the reverse, minted under the direct supervision of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was produced at the mint located in Kameido Village, Katsushika District, from Kanbun 8 (AD 1668) until AD 1868, spanning a period of two centuries.

The coin’s design emulates the traditional Chinese square-holed cash coin format. On the obverse, the four Chinese characters Kan’ei Tsūhō (寬永通寶) are inscribed sequentially in the order of top, bottom, right, and left. On the reverse, a single Chinese character Bun (文) is engraved along the upper edge, indicating that this coin belongs to the variant issued after Kanbun 8 (AD 1668), marking the beginning of its production.

The Kan’ei Tsūhō was first privately minted in Kan’ei 3 (AD 1626) by the merchant Satō Shinsuke of Hitachi Province, under authorisation from both the Tokugawa shogunate and the Mito Domain. In Kan’ei 13 (AD 1636), the Tokugawa shogunate formally began its own minting of Kan’ei Tsūhō coins. The following year, to secure sufficient copper resources for coin production, the shogunate designated both copper ore and copper coins as restricted export items.

With a circulation history spanning over two centuries, Kan’ei Tsūhō coins exist in hundreds of varieties, reflecting temporal and regional differences. Scholars and collectors generally classify these coins into two major categories: those issued prior to Kanbun 8 (AD 1668) are referred to as “Old Kan’ei” (古寬永), while those issued afterwards are known as “New Kan’ei” (新寬永). In terms of denomination, the series includes one-mon coins as well as four-mon coins distinguished by wave-pattern motifs on the reverse.

物件編號: A2313

年代: 公元 1668-1868 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 24.7 x 24.6 x 1.0 mm

重量: 3.45 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚日本江戶幕府自寬文8年 (公元1668年) 至公元1868年，由直屬幕府管轄的葛飾郡龜戶村鑄幣廠監造，發行時間長達兩個世紀，錢幣背面帶有「文」字版型的寬永通寶黃銅錢。

錢幣外觀仿效中國方孔錢造型，正面按照上、下、右、左的位置，依序以漢字鐫刻「寬永通寶」四字。錢幣背面的上緣則鐫刻一個漢字「文」，能藉此判斷該錢幣是寬文8年 (公元1668年) 後，開始發行鑄造的版別。

寬永通寶最早是寬永3年 (公元1626年)，常陸國商人佐藤新助在幕府和水戶藩許可下個人鑄造發行的貨幣。寬永13年 (公元1636年)，江戶幕府也正式開始鑄造寬永通寶，並且在隔年以確保有足夠的銅礦鑄造錢幣，將銅礦和銅錢列為限制出口的商品。

寬永通寶發行長達兩百多年的歷史，依照時代和地區的差異有上百種的版型，但是學界和收藏界大致以寬文8年(公元1668年)為分野，稱呼此前發行的版型為「古寬永」，後續發行者則是「新寬永」。按照面額的差異則有一文和背面以波浪紋作為裝飾的四文錢兩種面額。