JapanX

Thanks a lot David! Let me guess - no marks on the breast star? Cheers, Nick

But why then pieces with M mark and pieces without this mark are an exact equivalents of each other? And I was inder the impression that Japan Mint = Osaka Mint ;)

As I said earlie this is quite rare. This is the first marked order I`ve ever seen. I still wonder if our two colleagues have marked specimens. P.S. Thanks for your detailed photo examination of the star that you posted on your site.

You can detect slightly different delineation of central mirror and another color (more carrot-like) and surface (more flat) of the “eyes” or “pearls” (but of course these are actually “precious stones” – a gift from the Gods ) on our specimen. That’s why I think it belongs to the late 20s. It is to be regretted that I don`t have the photo of the reverse of April piece. Cheers mate :beer:

Here is the answer to your question.

Some of them are just stamp defects (especially the one on the right photo – below you’ll find exactly the same order marked M, but without this defect on reverse) and others – more or less stable differences.

Here I marked some of them.

I think they are practically identical only private has more thin lines (this is common feature of early signs) and two or three small differences that connected with hieroglyph shape.

Its my slang word for “precious stones”. :lol:

I think its optical (the left specimen has patina inside kanji stampings).

Yes, I think this mark was in use for about 30 years. Usually it could be found on sacred treasures and 1914-1915/1914-1920 medals.

Hi Richard and thanks for this info! :cheers:

Yep. You are a lucky bargee. I am bursting with envy. :lol:

It usually comes with a pin. Cheers, Nick

I think this piece belongs to 1970-1980 (this is for sure) or even 1990s. Check this box. P.S. You simply can't wager on RC orders. Way too risky!!! :lol:

Hi Dieter! Do you sleep at all? Of course you are right about the medal. Cheers mate

Look how close they are in manufacturing style and central mirror delineation! Incredibly close! And they have same ribbon, same rosette and same box. Maybe this is unique case when we see transition in action. One piece from late 20s (before 1929) and another from early Osaka produced pieces. It is as if they were manufactured on the same equipment with the same hands. Even the form of reverts are identical. This is an alarming symptom for our hypothesis about distinguished time boundary (1929) between private and state manufactured pieces. But again this striking similarity may resulted from some kind of merger (or hostile takeover ) of private production facilities by the state Mint.

State piece

State piece

Private piece

Transition pieces: private manufacturers VS. state manufacturer Let me show dear colleagues these two examples of 3rd class of sacred treasure order. Both marked. One bear private manufacturer mark and another M mint mark.

It will be interesting to note that I’ve never seen marked pillars in lower classes from 4th to 8th class (or marked breast stars if it comes to that). So now we have new coordinate – 1936. It gives us M-period of time in 7 years from 1929 to 1936. And this is the minimal period of time. That’s why I think that mark M was in use till the end of 30s (at least!).

But we have another beauty – Pillars of the State. Pillars of the state bear mark M too. Pieces with this mark are quite rare if not unique. This is marked 3rd class of the pillars of the state (I wonder if Richard’s 1st and Paul’s 3rd class pieces are marked).

I think we forget about a very important source of information – Manchukuo orders. We all know that some orders of Auspicious Clouds bear the mark M. This fact gives us first starting point (actually finishing point) – 1934 (year when this order was introduced). So its now 1929-1934. This is our new period of time during which mint mark M was in use.

1929. Birth year of M mark. I think that is really so, because I’ve never met early pieces (rising suns or sacred treasures) with M mark. But when this M-practice was abolished and was there really a period of time when all signs from Osaka were marked by M? Let’s examine this issue.