Japanese Coinage A Monetary History of Japan
samsloan
by Norman Jacobs and Cornelius C. Vermeule III
ISBN 4-87187-872-4
978-4-87187-872-2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=4871878724
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878724
This is the most comprehensive book on modern Japanese coinage ever
published in English. This book was written in 1953 although it was
not published in book form until 1972.
Heretofore, collecting Japanese coins has not been universally popular
in the West, and especially notable is the lack of interest among
collectors and numismatic researchers in pre-modern Japanese coinage.
This has been partly due to the dearth of English language numismatic
literature and reference materials on the subject. I believe this lack
of interest in and popularity of Japanese coin collecting is in no
small measure also a result of the enigmatic and abstruse nature of
the Japanese written language found on Japanese coins. Another reason
is obviously the unavailability of Japanese coins in large numbers as
compared to those of U.S. and other foreign coins in America and the
West.
However, interest in Japanese coin collecting has been growing among
Westerners, and the burgeoning popularity entailed therein, has
necessitated an examination of the available numismatic literature and
reference materials on the market. Consequently, we found that
"Japanese Coinage" by Dr. Norman Jacobs is probably the most
authoritative and substantive book on modern Japanese coinage extant
in English today. Unfortunately this very important and popular work
on Japanese coins is difficult to find.
The authors were Army Lieutenants in the US Military stationed in
Tokyo Japan during the occupation, which lasted from 1945 to 1952.
They were on General Douglas Douglas MacArthur's staff. He was known
as SCAP, or Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. Cornelius C.
Vermeule served under him in the Army as a Japanese interpreter.
Norman Jacobs worked in Army Intelligence, reading Japanese language
documents. I met them both at a gathering, as I was stationed there
too.
They were not professional coin dealers. They were avid collectors.
They had access to the Money Museum in the Treasury of Japan and to
all of the Japanese coins ever minted there. This gave them access to
every kind of Japanese, Chinese and Korean coin. Their work has been
much copied but has never been equaled.
After the Japanese surrendered, General Douglas MacArthur confiscated
and took all the gold and silver in the Bank of Japan, the Nippon
Ginko. It was given back in 1952 when the occupation ended.
Prior to this book, the first and the authoritative book in either
English or Japanese on Japanese Coins was “Coins of Japan” by Neil
Gordon Munro. That book was published in 1904. That book is extremely
rare, almost impossible to obtain nowadays.
Prior to the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese had odd and curious types
of money. They were not necessarily round. They were oval, oblong or
rectangular and had different weights and different values. Some had
square holes in them. They were called “templesen”. The people carried
them on strings around their necks. There was no system. It was
chaotic. The coins mostly did not have a valuation placed on them.
They were exchanged according to their weights.
In 1870, the Japanese redid their monetary system and adopted the
modern Western decimal system. Their coins used three kinds of metal,
gold, silver and nickel.
Later on, during the war, the Japanese introduced aluminum coins, as
they had run out of other kinds of metal.
Near the end of the war, the Japanese made the equivalent of what we
consider to be coins out of ceramic tiles.
Mario L. Sacripante
New York
December 16, 2009
Mr. Jaggers
> Japanese Coinage A Monetary History of Japan
>
> by Norman Jacobs and Cornelius C. Vermeule III
>
> ISBN 4-87187-872-4
> 978-4-87187-872-2
>
> http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=4871878724
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878724
>
> This is the most comprehensive book on modern Japanese coinage ever
> published in English. This book was written in 1953 although it was
> not published in book form until 1972.
I have a copy of this book. It is indeed worthwhile.
James