what is it??

[harley guy]

any thoughts on this....

[harley guy]

other side

[MikeB]

What is it?

....can't say for certain but almost reminds me of old Chinese money. Anybody else? MikeB

[Ryukyutunnelrat]

Aloha,

Its a Japanese 100 Mon (Tempo Tsuho) Coin normally dating from 1835 to 1870

David.

[harley guy]

thnx Ryukyutunnelrat...always nice to know what you have...

[b-m-n_animal]

Aloha,

Its a Japanese 100 Mon (Tempo Tsuho) Coin normally dating from 1835 to 1870

David.

Yep and there are fakes of this about as well ..... strangly coming out of china.

[Nick Komiya]

This was also known as "Tempo Sen" and it was actually in circulation until Dec 31 of 1891, when the government finally declared it void. The people in those days thought the Army College Graduate's badge (Illustration below) resembled this coin so the badge became known as tempo Sen within the Army. Counterfeiting of the coin was rampant even in the days of its circulation and though the nominal value was 100 Mon it exchanged hands at a market value of 80.