Asian coin help 1 1

[RonnieR131]

Found some more coins, Canadian, Mexican and Central American, English and Irish, etc... All were fairly easy to look up, a kangaroo is a no brainer even for me. I didn't have such luck with the Asian coins, they don't have an easy identifiable face, and had no luck with coin explorer or world coins, most likely because I just don't know how to use it properly. Would someone tell me what this coin is, so I can continue from there? Thank you.

 

 

 

 

[JKK]

Japanese Empire, 1 sen, Meiji Year 13 (1880), v-scale variety KM# 17.2. Differs from the square-scale variety of previous years.

[RonnieR131]

That was quick! Curious, did you know that right off hand? I beg to ask another question before I delve into it all by my lonesome, but is there a mint date somewhere on it or was all that answered in the description you just gave? I seriously don't know if the 1880 is the MD or it's 1880 celebration or ...

Edited April 24, 2020 by ronnie stein

[RonnieR131]

Thanks, never mind, you answered what I needed, I'll figure the rest out on my own. Feel like I might be cheating with too much information, and Sister Theresa Marie is going to whack me on the cheek with her ruler. The marks are gone on my face, but I still fell the pain after 60 yrs. I never cheated again. Here I go....

[JKK]

1 hour ago, ronnie stein said:

That was quick! Curious, did you know that right off hand? I beg to ask another question before I delve into it all by my lonesome, but is there a mint date somewhere on it or was all that answered in the description you just gave? I seriously don't know if the 1880 is the MD or it's 1880 celebration or ...

1880 CE corresponds to the regnal year 13 of the Meiji emperor (whose informal name was Mutsuhito). Meiji refers to his reign and era, which was a time of enormous change in Japan. That it was 1 sen was of course easy; that it was Japanese was obvious from the mum; the dating reads "Meiji 13 Year." All one has to do is learn to recognize the character combinations for each imperial era, then to read Japanese numbers. The symbol for "year" doesn't change. Of course, until post-WWII it's written right to left, but those of us who have studied a couple of Semitic languages have an easier time getting used to that.

[RonnieR131]

That said it all, it saved me a lot of work. If you ever need a 'severe Texican slang with a pronunciated street drawl' translated, let me know, I'm well versed. You da maaaan hoss.  

[JKK]

4 minutes ago, ronnie stein said:

That said it all, it saved me a lot of work. If you ever need a 'severe Texican slang with a pronunciated street drawl' translated, let me know, I'm well versed. You da maaaan hoss.  

My father-in-law was from (as he pronounced it) Itlay. Exposure to his drawl-bordering-on-speech-impediment gave me skills in this area, including "hoss" which was one of his favorite usages. There's a good page on Japanese coin dating that might help you going forward.

[RonnieR131]

Thanks JKK, the perfect page. It's not a chore now, it really is fun.

[JKK]

2 hours ago, ronnie stein said:

Thanks JKK, the perfect page. It's not a chore now, it really is fun.

Similar challenges will lay ahead for other numbering/dating systems. BE (Buddhist era; Thai, maybe others), VS (Bikram Samvat; Nepal, maybe others), AH (After Hegira; most of the Islamic world), SH (Solar Hegira; Iran and Afghanistan sometimes), JE (Jewish era; Israel), and more. Many use regnal years (Ottoman, some Mughal, and more). Some coins can only be dated to date ranges. I've recently finished an excruciatingly fun cataloguing of Afghan region coins from Mauryan punchmarks through Kushan through the various jital issuers through various south central Asian empires up to the early 1900s. Extra fun aspect: many of the planchets were much smaller than the dies, so you'd have to have several nicely distributed examples of the same issue just to know what all it should say. Enjoy!