World Coin BookWorld coin encyclopedia

Later 7th century–958

Ancient Japanese Coins

Ancient Japanese coinage developed as court institutions, imported ideas, metal supply, administration, and public acceptance changed together. Archaeology reveals money-like silver and Fuhonsen before the documented 708 Wado Kaichin issue; eleven later official copper types trace repeated attempts to sustain state coin use.

古代日本貨幣

A Tokyo National Museum group illustrating the twelve ancient court coin types
Representative museum group; early-money objects are documented separately.National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan / ColBase · CC BY 4.0
Span
Later 7th century–958
Official sequence
12 coin types
Final issue
Kengen Taihō · 958
Publication
Review required
708Wadō Kaichin和同開珎 12Kōchō Jūnisen皇朝十二銭

Chronology

From early silver to the final court issue

  1. Commodity value and weighed silver

    Rice, textiles, imported ideas, and silver objects belong to different evidence classes.

  2. Fuhonsen / 富本銭

    Asukaike archaeology establishes production but not uniform everyday circulation.

  3. Wadō Kaichin / 和同開珎

    The court issued a Tang-modeled coin and promoted administrative use.

  4. Successive court issues

    New coins attempted to sustain official value amid supply and acceptance problems.

  5. Smaller, poorer late issues

    Measured specimens show smaller fabric and changing lead-rich alloy trends.

  6. Commodity money, then imported cash

    No new court coin type followed Kengen Taiho for centuries.

Visual comparison

Four objects, four evidence boundaries

Approved exact-source images are shown where available; every unavailable face remains explicitly labeled rather than substituted.

Thumbnail: Obverse and reverse of a representative Fuhonsen in the Tokyo National Museum
Representative contextual image: Obverse and reverse of a representative Fuhonsen in the Tokyo National Museum.
FuhonsenProbable state-issued coin; circulation debated
Thumbnail: Museum-display replica of a perforated Mumon Ginsen silver object
Representative contextual image: Museum-display replica of a perforated Mumon Ginsen silver object.
Mumon GinsenUninscribed, weight-adjusted silver object
Thumbnail: Obverse and reverse of the Wadō Kaichin excavated at the Sūfuku-ji Temple site
Representative contextual image: Obverse and reverse of the Wadō Kaichin excavated at the Sūfuku-ji Temple site.
Wadō KaichinDocumented court issue of 708
Thumbnail: A Tokyo National Museum group illustrating the twelve ancient court coin types
Representative contextual image: A Tokyo National Museum group illustrating the twelve ancient court coin types.
Kōchō JūnisenTwelve-issue court sequence, 708–958

Square-hole cash form

A round cast body and central square hole connect the issues to a wider East Asian production and monetary tradition.

Casting

Molds, sprues, separation, and filing create evidence different from struck coinage.

Inscription reading

Orientation, historical forms, and later catalog habits must be separated.

Court authority

Issuance expressed state authority, but law and public acceptance did not always align.

Debasement

Use the term for documented metal and size trends, never as a substitute for specimen analysis.

Coin trust

Supply, quality, official ratios, private casting, and administrative use interacted.

Evidence

Sources and scope

These links support the claims on this page. Source authority does not imply permission to republish source images.

History of Japanese Currency Currency Museum, Bank of Japan

Fuhonsen and Mumon Ginsen context, the 708 issue of Wado Kaichin, state monetary policy, quality decline, the 958 final issue, and the return to commodity money.

Open source
Permanent Exhibition Guide: Ancient Times Currency Museum, Bank of Japan

Early silver, Fuhonsen alloy and chronology, Wado Kaichin, ancient state coinage, and restrained public-facing classifications.

Open source
Asukaike Site Heritage Record Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties

Asukaike production complex, Fuhonsen, molds, casting debris, crucibles, files, and court-workshop archaeological context.

Open source