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Books and Useful References

Below is a selection of the books and resources that I have found useful for identifying and learning about Japanese coins.

1. Munro, Neil G. Coins of Japan At 413 pages long, Coins of Japan contains a wealth of information about prehistoric to early Meiji Japanese coinage. This book is the predecessor to the Hartill catalog. Although this book provides no price guide or numbering system, it is still a recommended read for any Japanese coin collector. Copyright on this work has expired, and it is in the public domain.
2. Unknown Guide for identification of cash coin Kanei Tsuho with the character EI inclined to the left This is a very useful guide on how to distinguish the five mints that produced Kanei Tsuho 1 Mon coins with a closed-head Tsu character and drooping Ei character. The link is found on zeno.ru.
3. Hartill, David Early Japanese Coins The current standard guide to Japanese pre-Meiji coinage. This book has a numbering system and rarity guide. While the advanced collector will require more in-depth books in Japanese, this is a good place to start.
4. Jacobs, Norman and Vermeule, Cornelius C. Japanese Coinage: A Monetary History of Japan by Another perspective/description on both cast and struck Japanese coinage.
5. Craig, William D. Coins of the World, 1750-1850 This catalog is commonly used to identify bar coins, so you will definitely want a copy!
6. Multiple Standard Catalog of World Coins 1801-1900, 1901-2000 and 2000-date These ubiquitous catalogs are essential to any collector of struck Japanese coins, because almost all Japanese coins for sale in the US are identified to it.
7. JNDA Catalog of Japanese Coins While this catalog is in Japanese, it still provides a useful guide to the varieties of both cast and struck Japanese coinage.
8. Shin Kanei Tsuho 1 Mon This catalog is also in Japanese, and lists many more varieties of bronze and iron 1 Mon coins than in the Hartill catalog.
9. Created by Vladimir Belyaev and Vasily Vahmintsev Zeno.ru This website contains a wealth of information if you are willing to spend the time going through the coins listed.