English: comments? corrections?

email me at lukerobt@history.ucsb.edu Part of the fun of collecting coins is determining the facts of the coin's creation. Where was it made? When was it made, and by whom? What is it made of? After these basic facts are determined "Why?" becomes the most interesting historical question. Below are some interesting coins that I have collected and about which I know very little. If you know more about a coin than I write below, then please contact me at lukerobt@history.ucsb.edu in either Japanese or English. Help!     Two unknown 100 mon value Tenpou Tsuuhou. The Tenpou Tsuuhou was a 100 mon value coin minted between 1835 and 1871. Two of the ones below are strange. One is made of white metal, perhaps mostly tin? It is not a "mother coin" and there is a casting error at the feet of the "hou" character. One collector has informed me that this is a type which came out of the Osaka mint. The other has a strangely made character on the back. The "tou" has five marks above the roof instead of the normal three. It is likely just the result of a casting error. The one on the right is a common one for comparison. They are all approximately 33mm wide x 49mm tall x 2mm thick, and they all have the customary stars stamped into the sides, one on the left and one on the right.

detail of top left coin's reverse