CNG 97, Lot: 944. Estimate $200. Sold for $351. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JAPAN, National coinage. temp. Genbun–Bunka Eras. 1736-1818. AR Mameita-gin (15.5mm, 6.39 g, 12h). Kyoto or Edo (Tokyo) mint. Daikoku, God of Wealth, standing facing, holding uchide no kozuchi (golden mallet) and sack of rice; bun in Hanji on chest / Daikoku, God of Wealth, standing facing, holding uchide no kozuchi (golden mallet) and sack of rice; bun in Hanji on chest. Hartill, Japanese 3.42; BMC Japan 1152-5; JNDA 09-6. EF, toned. Well centered on a broad flan.

Daikoku, the Japanese god of wealth and one of the popular ‘Seven Lucky Gods,’ is a syncretic deity evolved from the combination of the Hindu god Shiva and Ōkuninushi, a Shinto deity. Tradition holds that one can assure oneself of good fortune by successfully stealing a statue of Daikoku without being caught, a custom known as fuku-nusubi, “theft of fortune.”