The British Museum’s collection of Japanese coins is one of the best outside Japan. Many of the coins were originally in the collection of Japan’s renowned numismatist and collector, Kutsuki Masatsuna (1750-1802), and were acquired by the British Museum in the 1880s. At the same time as Kutsuki Masatsuna was building up his collection, European scholars were also visiting Japan, and paying particular attention to coins as they sought to gain knowledge and understanding. This is the first catalogue of the British Museum’s collection of Japanese coins. Details of each coin are given in Japanese and English, along with colour illustrations.
Joe Cribb is Research Keeper in the Department of Coins and Medals, the British Museum. Nobuhisa Furuta is Former Chief Researcher at the Institute for Oriental Currency, Sapporo. Peter Kornicki is Professor of East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge. Shin'ichi Sakuraki is Professor of Japanese History, Shimonoseki City University. Tim Screech is Professor in the History of Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Helen Wang is Curator of East Asian Money, the British Museum. She has published a catalogue of Chairman Mao badges in the Research Publications Series (no. 169).