As of 8 June 2022, the Japanese coin dealer and auction house Taisei Coins has a new President and Director. Shinsaku BABA replaced his predecessor, the long-time Taisei Coins Co. President Masahiro OKA.
Effective immediately, Mr. Oka will retire from day-to-day operations and serve as Chairman and CEO, overseeing the fate of the company, which was founded by his father in 1967. Mr. Oka comments: “In my new assignment I will continue to play a part in management by providing advice and assistance to the newly appointed representatives. I am confident of Shinsaku’s ability to lead Taisei Coins and it is my wish that you all welcome him as warmly as you did when I started many years ago.” Shinsaku Baba is aware of the great mark that Masahiro Oka left on the international coin trade. He looks forward to the challenge of leading Taisei Coins Corporation into the future.
Biography and Plans of Shinsaku Baba
The new President, Shinsaku Baba, knows the company inside out. He started to work for the preceding company, Taisei Stamp Coins Co., as a recent college graduate. Then he expanded his expertise by working for several other companies before re-joining Taisei Coins in 2003. There, he was responsible for trading contemporary coins and cooperating with central banks around the globe for many years.
In his greeting, Shinsaku Baba emphasizes how much he looks forward to the wonderful task of conveying the historical messages of coins to his customers. He takes great pleasure in the fact that Taisei Coins has played and continues to play a leading role in anchoring coin collecting in a world that is aware of its past. He loves how deeply every numismatic item is connected to history.
At the same time, Shinsaku Baba is aware of the challenges of his time. His introductory message to the staff highlighting his priorities focused on constant learning and working on various topics. It is important to him that each member of his staff challenges constantly its work in order to never forget its real purpose, that is – as the corporate philosophy states – “to contribute to the enrichment of society through coin collecting”.
The Company: Taisei Coins
In 1967, Taisei Stamps & Coins Co. was founded as a company that specialised in the sale of historical and contemporary stamps and coins. As in many countries, coin collecting flourished in 1970s Japan as high inflation encouraged citizens to invest some money in tangible assets. Due to its focus on the needs of its Japanese customers, Taisei Coins grew to become one of the country’s most important coin dealerships.
Right from the start, Taisei Coins made a point of not only selling coins but also making numismatic knowledge available to a broad public. Thus, in 1971, the first issue of the “Taisei Monthly” was published. The customer magazine still exists today and provides information about the coins on offer. The first auction was held in 1977. In 1982, Taisei Coins became the official distributor of the Golden Pandas of the People’s Bank of China, which are very popular in Japan.
In 1994, Taisei Coins Co. was established to expand the company’s focus on coins. Taisei Coins is considered the most important distributor of foreign coins in Japan. In 2011, the year of the great earthquake and tsunami disaster, Taisei Coins held its first floor auction in over 23 years with great success. Since then, Taisei Auction has set many auction records in Japan. The most recent event was a cooperation with the Royal Mint: a joint auction sale on the occasion of the Tokyo International Coin Convention.
Here you can access the Taisei Coins website.
This is how the new President Shinsaku Baba greeted his customers.
If you are planning a trip to Tokyo, you can find here the address and some images of the Taisei coin shop.
In 2020, Taisei Coins set an international record for a “Una and the Lion” piece. CoinsWeekly covered the event.
And, of course, we also covered the joint auction sale of Taisei and the Royal Mint.
In April 2021, Taisei Coins successfully won a historically significant pattern set at the Stack’s Bowers The Pinnacle Collection auction in Hong Kong for USD$1.6 million. The specimen set was minted in 1870 by Great Britain for Japan and is only one of two complete sets known to be created and the only one outside a museum. The other one is in The Royal Mint Museum. You can view the lot at the Stack’s Bowers website.