Very happy! Just ordered a Japan 1868-1869 (Meiji Era) (UPDATE: SOLD OUT!)

[stinkycheese1]

 

WELL EVERYONE, I JUST EMAILED CLARK SMITH (AGAIN) AND HE REPLIED. HE TOLD ME THEY ARE ALL SOLD OUT. SO I CAN'T BUY ONE

Here's the description of the coin:

Japan 1868-1869 (Meiji Era) Gold Nibu-Kin; Group available; weight 3g; 11mm x 19mm size; Single coin $65; Group of 20 coins for $58 each; Dealer wholesale group of 50 coins for $55 each (please email us for a larger quantity and lower price)

 

 

 

 

[TomB]

If you look at the two coins shown individually on the bottom; the left hand piece appears to say "bu" on the left hand side and "two" on the right hand side, which I would interpret to mean a value of two bu. One bu is worth four shu or 1000 mon. I have to admit that this coin appears to be from the Ansei era (1856-1860) and would be known as a Ni-Bu Ban Kin. These were struck in only about 22% gold alloyed with silver.

[cpm9ball]

Those are pretty neat looking, Stinky! But, I'll have to admit that when I first read the subject line before I opened the thread, the last part of the description (Gold Nibu-Kin) made me think of Cheez-Its, and darned if they don't look like them, too!

 

Chris

[stinkycheese1]

If you look at the two coins shown individually on the bottom; the left hand piece appears to say "bu" on the left hand side and "two" on the right hand side, which I would interpret to mean a value of two bu. One bu is worth four shu or 1000 mon. I have to admit that this coin appears to be from the Ansei era (1856-1860) and would be known as a Ni-Bu Ban Kin. These were struck in only about 22% gold alloyed with silver.

 

 

Are you serious? Only 22% gold? I thought I was paying for a solid gold coin...dang it.

 

[TomB]

I expected that you assumed these were higher in gold content, which is one reason why I included that tidbit in my response. You should have realized, perhaps, that the color of the pieces might be indicative of a lower gold content and a higher silver alloy. If these weigh 3g each and are 22% gold then each piece has 0.66g gold content. Conversion of the weight in grams to troy ounces yields approximately 0.021 troy ounces solid gold for an effective gold price of $3,063 per ounce of gold at $65 per coin. This is about 4.2 times the spot price of gold. Of course, their historic value must also be included, but it appears you thought you were paying $674 per ounce of gold if you thought these were solid gold. That would be quite a nice trick since the price of gold is currently $735 per ounce.

[gmarguli]

You paid a fair price. These are pretty popular and sell very well.

[PerryHall]

Actually it sounds like a silver coin alloyed with some gold.

[WinstonWare]

Those are kinda neat looking.

[stinkycheese1]

Well some bad news folks, I haven't heard back from him through the email. I bet he's still mad at me.

 

I sent him the email 2 days ago...maybe he's just busy? Thanks for your response TomB. I noticed the metal doesn't look as 'gold' as it should be.