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South Area 18-1

Wado-kaichin Silver Coin



Image
Image1
Category
Archaeological Materials Historical Materials
Title
Wado-kaichin Silver Coin
Areas
South Area 18-1
Registered date
2007.2.22

In 1961, local resident Seiko Takamura found a silver Wado-kaichin coin in an irrigation canal on the west side of the Main Hall at the Suematsu Temple Sites. This historically important artifact led to a full-scale excavation at a later date.
Wado-kaichin was issued in 708. The silver coins were issued in May 708 and destroyed in August 709. Therefore, the number of coins in circulation was extremely small.
The coin found by Takamura had an outer diameter of 24.4mm, an inner diameter of 6.9mm, a thickness of 1.4mm, and weighed 4.06g. Component analysis by fluorescent X-ray revealed that the coin contained 88.66% silver, 9.01% sulfur, and a small amount of other substances such as chlorine, calcium, iron, and copper.