The original koban were gold coins produced in 17th, 18th and early 19th century Japan. About 55 years ago, a set of thin metal, beveled edge "cards" was produced featuring Japan Pro Baseball players. The fronts have a square colorized player headshot superimposed over a "koban" type coin background. Silver colored backs contain a point value, a baseball term in Japanese and a paper/scissors/rock symbol. The players featured in this lot are as follows: (top row, left to right) Shigeo Nagashima (HOF), Wally Yonamine (HOF), Masaichi Kaneda (HOF), Kazuhisa Inao (HOF), Masaaki Koyama (HOF) (bottom row, left to right) Yoshio Yoshida (HOF), Kenjiro Tamiya (HOF), Andy Miyamoto (Hawaii), Toru Mori and an unknown player.

Size: Each koban is 15/16" x 1 9/16.

Condtion: Range--Ex to Nm. Average--Ex/Mt.