958
Kengen Taihō: Imperial Coin No. 12
Issued in 958, Kengen Taiho was the final new issue in the official ancient court sequence. Domestic coin issuance then ceased for centuries while commodity money and, later, imported Chinese cash filled monetary roles.
乾元大寶Kengen Taihō
裏Other face not present in the approved source
- Sequence
- 12 / 12
- Issue year
- 958
- Era
- 天徳 2
- Authority
- Imperial court under Emperor Murakami
Historical context
Issued in 958, Kengen Taiho was the final new issue in the official ancient court sequence. Domestic coin issuance then ceased for centuries while commodity money and, later, imported Chinese cash filled monetary roles.
Inscription and reading
乾元大寶 · Kengen Taihō · Kengen Taiho
Reading confidence · high
Observed catalog specimens
Measurements, metal, and cast fabric
These values are comparative observations, not official tolerances or authentication cutoffs.
- Weight
- 2.83 g (1 observed specimen)
- Diameter
- 19.96 mm (1 observed specimen)
- Metal
- copper alloy
- Hole
- central square hole
- Rims
- small late-series cast fabric, often weak
- Casting
- cast copper-alloy cash coin
Composition evidence
Sampled late issues are low-tin and often lead-rich copper alloys; the catalog does not support one universal formula.
Low-tin, often lead-rich Cu alloy tendency in sampled late coins.
Attribution boundary
A named court and era establish issue context. They do not establish the physical mint of an unidentified specimen.
high for identity, issue date, authority, and final-sequence position; low for generalized measurements because only one catalog specimen was measurable
Condition and authenticity
weak or incomplete legends, corrosion, and cast porosity require separate recording
Open cast-coin guide →Evidence
Sources and scope
These links support the claims on this page. Source authority does not imply permission to republish source images.
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 sourceIssue dates, emperors, policy evidence, production decline, and historical notes for Ryuhei Eiho through Kengen Taiho.
Open sourceSpecimen-level outer diameter and weight observations for issues two through twelve; observations are not statutory standards.
Open sourceMeasured copper, tin, lead, iron, arsenic, and antimony patterns across sampled ancient coins, with specimen-level limitations.
Open source