Numismatic Literature. Nakagawa, Sekikosai, Wakan Kisei Kosen Zuroku, the title literally means "rare old Japanese and Chinese illustrated coin catalog". The original, printed under a slightly different name, was published in Ansei 6 (=1859), this slightly rarer first print was originally published in three volumes, the last only having background information on these coins. This edition almost exclusively consists of the lovely woodblock printed illustrations, so basically volume one and two of the original print, each about 50 pages in length. While the date 1859 is still presented within the book itself, it is supposed to be a slightly later reprint, most likely an early Meiji edition. The Meiji era, one of the longer ones in Japanese history, lasted from 1868 to 1912, good rubbings on rice paper, old Japanese text, with H. F. Bowker embosed inside each cover of the two volumes, set of 2 volumes, ex H.F. Bowker East Asian Collection. In the 1870’s, a new coinage act was passed in Japan, under which the old cash coin system was abolished and the new, decimal yen based system introduced. At this time, these old coins were still readily available, yet economically speaking worthless, which sparked a many citizens the take up the hobby of coin collecting. If we take a look at the amount of numismatic books published in Japan, we can see quite a peak at the beginning of the Meiji era, due to this renewed interest.
