寛平大寶 (Kanpyō Taihō), “Great Treasure of the Kanpyō Era,” arranged around the square hole in clockwise order // Plain. 18.6 mm, 1.9 grams. Hartill, Early Japanese Coins (2011), Kanpyō Taihō, DHJ 1.59–1.62; Standard Catalog of Japanese Coins, JC 01-10.

Very high quality for this type. Kanpyo Taiho is one of the scarcer coins of the Kōchō Jūnisen, the series of twelve official imperial coinages of ancient Japan.

The Kanpyō Taihō was introduced in Kanpyō 2 (890 CE) during the reign of Emperor Uda and is the tenth issue of Japan's celebrated Kōchō Jūnisen (“Twelve Imperial Court Coinages”), the official copper coinage series issued between 708 and 958 CE. Struck during the late Heian period, it represents one of the final attempts by the imperial court to maintain a national bronze currency as supplies of copper diminished and the monetary economy entered a prolonged decline.

Smaller and lighter than the earlier eighth-century issues, Kanpyō Taihō coins were cast in bronze using molds derived from the Chinese Tang cash-coin tradition. Historical records note that the coinage reform of 890 replaced the preceding Jōgan Eihō issue with the new Kanpyō Taihō, although documentary references to the reform are remarkably brief. The type circulated until the introduction of the Engi Tsūhō in 907 CE, after which the quality of Japan's imperial coinage continued to deteriorate before its eventual disappearance in the tenth century.

An attractive and historically important example of one of the last official coin types of ancient imperial Japan.