Okinawa - 100 Mon - Museum Gallery

November 2024

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This is a really nice example of this scarce coin. It's from the inflationary period of large coinage. The Taiping Rebellion in China appears to have had an effect throughout Asia. Inset into the image is an edge photo of the symbol punched into the edge (SA = Satsuma). The rim bumps are where the edge punches are, this coin has two punches, one on each long edge. I have seen fakes (very poor) of these and the edge stamp is missing. The 1/2 Shu piece has a very similar stamp.
The 100 mon Ryuukyuu Tsuuhou pictured was first manufactured in Kagoshima (Satsuma domain) 1863 for circulation within the Ryuukyuus and in Satsuma domain itself. Like the Tenpou Tsuuhou upon which it was modeled, its face value was 100 mon but its weight was merely 6 to 7 times that of a 1 mon coin. Furthermore, even though the face value was 100 mon the Satsuma government ordered that it circulate at the value of 124 mon (go figure!). This made it a profitable coin to manufacture, but was not well received in circulation. From Luke Robert's "East Asian Cash" website.

49.6 x 33.2 mm, 19 gm. Copper 100 Mon is without date but cast in 1862 - 1863. KM# is C# 100 (Craig). This is a much better coin than the one in KM.