CNG 97, Lot: 950. Estimate $150. Sold for $110. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JAPAN, National coinage. temp. Ansei–Genji Eras. 1854-1866. AR Mameita-gin (12mm, 3.80 g, 12h). Edo (Tokyo) mint. Struck 1859-1865. Daikoku, God of Wealth, standing facing, holding uchide no kozuchi (golden mallet) and sack of rice; sei in Hanji on chest / Daikoku, God of Wealth, standing facing, holding uchide no kozuchi (golden mallet) and sack of rice; sei in Hanji on chest. Hartill, Japanese 9.9.61; BMC Japan –; JNDA 09-69. Good VF, toned, usual tight flan. Rare.

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.”