Japan, Nagasaki Trade Coin, Genpō Tsūhō

Nagasaki trade coins, also known as Nagasaki export coins, were a series of Japanese copper 1 mon coins cast exclusively for use with foreign trading partners during the Tokugawa shogunate from 1659 to 1685.

These coins come from an isolationist period in Japanese history, when the nation was under a policy called sakoku ("chained country"). However, the policy did not end all foreign trade—the city of Nagasaki, where these coins were made, still managed to flourish as Japan's primary trading port. The coins were mostly exported to Vietnam and other Southeast Asian regions, and Nagasaki trade coins even became a de facto currency in many places due to declines in local coin production.

Even with its isolationist policies, Nagasaki trade coins show the impact Japan had across southeast Asia, both economically and culturally. Coins production was driven by a high demand for copper in Southeast Asia and Vietnam in particular, where copper had become scarce due to its use in weaponry during the Trinh-Nguyễn War, and they were often melted down in northern Vietnam for utensils. Japanese merchants exploited a ban on gold and silver exports by the Qing dynasty as well, by using these coins for silk and other goods. Nagasaki trade coins would even travel to Europe via the Dutch East India Company.

These coins are inscribed with 元豐通寶, which are Chinese characters copied from coins of the Song Dynasty. However, they are distinguishable from their Chinese counterparts by the use of different typefaces.

Each coin comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.