The Problem of Man'en and Meiji Nibuban
Man'en and Meiji nibuban present two distinct challenges, both related to attribution.
In Japan, there are three distinct types of small nibuban (Man'en Ansei-style, Man'en Meiji-style, and Meiji), all of which are very similar. English guides aren't clear about how to distinguish between the three, so simply identifying which type is which is the first hurdle for English-speaking collectors.
The second challenge, however, is identifying which style was actually made in which time period. The names currently assigned have been in use in Japan since at least the 1920s, but there's significant evidence that they may actually be reversed from the correct attribution.
We'll first look at how to distinguish between the three types as they're currently identified in Japan, then discuss some of the evidence that contradicts these names.
Attributing Man'en Nibuban
The three coins below are three different types. One is a Meiji nibuban, a common piece worth around $75 on average in Japan. Two are significantly rarer and worth around $500 on average. Everything you need to ID them is visible in this picture. Can you tell the difference?
Photos by PCGS. All coins owned by the author.
It's a subtle difference. However, it's also very simple to tell them apart once you know what to look for.
The three types we're looking at are:
Man'en Ansei-style nibuban - "Extremely rare" per Hartill, only 10 graded as of October 2020
Man'en Meiji-style nibuban - "Extremely rare" per Hartill, almost 100 graded as of October 2020
Meiji nibuban - "Common" per Hartill, over 500 graded as of October 2020
Hartill clearly shows how to distinguish between Man'en and Meiji, though he doesn't note any difference between the two different styles of Man'en nibu.
Early Japanese Coins by David Hartill, page 112.
If the top right stroke of the bu character (分) curves upwards, it's a Man'en nibuban. This is referred to as "hane bu." If it's straight or angled down, it's a Meiji nibuban (known as "tome bu").
To see the difference between Man'en Ansei-style and Man'en Meiji-style, we have to look to the JNDA.
2020 JNDA, page 116.
This entry is labelled in English as the Man'en nibuban, and it also reads "hane-bu," reinforcing Hartill's criteria for identification. It goes one step further; the caption on the top illustration (with the blue dot) reads "Ansei-style." The bottom illustration (with the green dot) reads "Meiji-style." These illustrations refer to the bottom part of the top flower, circled in purple. The example shown is a Man'en Meiji-style.
Below we have an Ansei nibuban, both Man'en types, and a Meiji nibuban with the identifying characteristics circled. The Ansei nibuban is easy to differentiate for its larger size, but the size, weight, and composition of the Man'en and Meiji nibuban are identical.
The two Man'en can be distinguished from the Meiji by the bu character. The Man'en Ansei-style is missing the small V at the bottom of the top flower, like the Ansei nibuban. The Man'en Meiji-style includes this V, as does the Meiji nibuban.
Photos by PCGS. All coins owned by the author.
This is the current market definition of the different types. All three small types are needed for a full PCGS Registry Set, so it's important to know what you're looking at if you're going for a full set. Many PCGS-graded examples are misattributed based on these criteria, so I strongly advise you to check the coin itself for any Man'en or Meiji nibuban and not rely on the holder.
Both styles of Man'en nibuban are significantly rarer and more valuable than Meiji nibuban.
The Problem
Before we continue, I'd like to reiterate: the attributions above are how these coins are labelled in Japan and are how they're generally discussed. The following discussion highlights information that has been discussed in some Japanese sources but has not (as of 2026) changed the way these three types are identified in the general collecting populace.
There's significant evidence that the styles historically labelled Man'en nibuban were actually produced during the Meiji era, and that the style labelled Meiji nibuban were from the Man'en era. This research is ongoing
To make discussion easier, each type will be referred to by its identifying characteristics for the rest of this page:
Man'en Ansei-style - Hane bu no V
Man'en Meiji-style - Hane bu with V
Meiji - Tome bu
Also for the rest of this page, the era names (Man'en nibuban or Meiji nibuban) will refer to historical documentation related to coins of the time, not the style of coins as identified in the previous section.
Mintage Numbers
The JNDA reports a total mintage of 100,201,152 pieces of Man'en and Meiji nibuban combined. Other sources break this number down further and report 93,797,865 Man'en nibuban and just 7,619,287 Meiji nibuban. We would then expect to see about twelve times as many Man'en nibuban as Meiji nibuban.
Looking at the rarity of the three styles, this would suggest Tome bu as Man'en nibuban and the two Hane bu styles as Meiji nibuban. Tome bu examples are significantly more common and are widely available, while Hane bu types are relatively rare.
Composition
Man'en nibuban were struck at the traditional pre-Meiji Japanese mint at a time when they were trying to salvage their currency system; nibuban were minted with a consistent 22.9% gold purity. Meiji nibuban, however, were minted after the shogunate had been overthrown. The new government was only minting nibuban as a provisional measure to keep the economy running until they could set up a new currency system, so they didn't care about the quality of the coins. According to Japanese Wikipedia, the original Meiji nibuban were minted with about 25% gold but eventually dropped to just 18% gold over the 10 months when they were minted. These low purity examples were apparently recorded separately and make up 1,216,000 of the total mintage.
While all nibuban were treated to remove silver from the surface, making XRF testing useless for determining such a narrow difference, we can make some inferences based on the average appearance of surviving coins.
Tome bu pieces are a pretty consistent color, and Hane bu with V are typically a similar color. Hane bu no V, however, are commonly a paler gold. This is evident even in the photos used on this page - the piece labelled "Man'en Ansei-style" in the previous section is noticably less gold than the other pieces.
I'd also like to point out that Ansei nibuban, the early larger style with a hane bu and no V, were only 20.3% gold. Is it possible that the V was removed from Meiji Hane bu pieces to indicate the examples made with lower purity gold? Based on auction data from 2024 and 2025, Hane bu no V pieces show up in auction about half as often as Hane bu with V pieces. We would expect a more dramatic difference in rarity if only 1,216,000 Hane bu no V pieces were minted, compared with 6,403,287 Hane bu with V pieces.
Die Trial
The Japan Mint has a die trial (手本金) - a large gold strip with the dies for a nibuban and nisshuban stamped on it, in addition to other writing etched into the metal. While I have not been able to find an image that is legal to share publicly, I have privately received a photo of the die trial from the Japan Mint and can confidently comment on its inscriptions.
It has a Tome bu nibu struck on it, alongside a Man'en nisshu, with the inscription, "Style of Nibuban and Nisshu Kin" (貮分判貮朱金様式). Both of these die impressions look like they were made with typical dies of each type. The other side of the die trial is inscribed, "Made in February of Ansei 7 (1860), the Year of the Monkey" (安改七庚申年二月創製). According to Japanese Wikipedia, this trial is about 22% gold based on testing, which is what we would expect to see from Man'en nibuban. I haven't been able to locate any information on how the museum acquired this item or further discussion of its authenticity, but I have no reason to doubt it.
All aspects of this die trial indicate that Tome bu pieces were made during the Man'en era.
Remaining Research
I've located multiple sources discussing this issue, including the die trial, that I have yet to finish translating. At least one of these seems to connect the Hane bu with V and no V types to two different mint locations. My research is currently focused on early gold ichibuban and it will be awhile before I'm able to complete this thread of research, but with the mounting evidence that the two styles have been switched somewhere along the line, I wanted to put up a preliminary discussion.
If anyone has further information about the die trial or other historical evidence linking these nibuban styles to a specific era, I'd love to hear from you.