Wadōkaichin

The Wadōkaichin began being produced following the discovery of large copper deposits in Japan during the early 8th century.[5]

The coins, which were round with a square hole in the center, remained in circulation until 958 CE.[6] These were the first of a series of coins collectively called jūnizeni or kōchō jūnisen (皇朝十二銭).[7]

"Wadōkaichin" is the transliteration of the four characters in the coin's inscription, which is thought to be composed of the era name Wadō (和銅, "Japanese copper"), which could alternatively mean "happiness", and kaichin, thought to be related to "currency".

This coinage was inspired by the Chinese Tang dynasty coinage (唐銭) named Kaigen Tsūhō (Chinese: 開元通宝, Kāiyuán tōngbǎo), first minted in Chang'an in 621 CE. The Wadōkaichin had the same specifications as the Chinese coin, with a diameter of 2.4 cm and a weight of 3.75 g.[8]

• In February 2015 Japanese archeologists discovered ritual jars filled with Wadōkaichin and Jingō Kaihō (神功開寳) cash coins at the Tehara ruins in Rittō, Shiga Prefecture.[9] The jars were placed there as a part of a Buddhist ritual, which indicates that the site was likely a government office or the resident of an important local.[9]

• On August 17, 2015 four Wadōkaichin cash coins were discovered at te East Pagoda of Yakushi-ji, Nara during a restoration.[5] The Wadōkaichin were located 1.3 meters east of a foundation rock at the bottom of the 1.7 meter-deep base of the East Pagoda of the temple.[5] Experts from the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties and the Nara Prefectural Archeological Institute of Kashihara believe that the Wadōkaichin were buried at the East Pagoda during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Buddhist temple and that these cash coins were used for purification purposes.[5] According to the experts, this discovery at the Yakushi-ji is the oldest known example of the ancient Japanese practice of burying a widely-circulated cash coin to purify a construction site anywhere in Japan.[5]

• Ryō (Japanese coin)
• Japanese mon (currency)
• Wadō (era)
• Economy of Japan

• Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon (Nihon Odai Ichiran). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 6042764

• Wado Kaichin from Japan Mint Museum