JAPAN: Keio, 1865-1868, AE 50 mon (10.29g), Hosogaya Mint in Mito, Hitachi Province, H-7.4, JNDA-139.4, type known as a Mito Tora-sen (Mito Tiger Coin), cast in bronze, F-VF Legend in seal script translates as "Enrich the Country and Strengthen the Military." Cast at the Hosogaya Mito, Hitachi Province (present day Ibaraki-ken). The original cast in 1864 in iron was a local emergency coin used to pay the workmen at the financially troubled copper-coin mint in Mito. In 1867 copper-alloy was cast supposedly from bronze cannon which the daimyo (local feudal lord) had made out of temple bells with which to repel the western barbarians.

Estimate: USD 100-150