To begin with the coin came in a clear plastic pouch to keep your coin clean and safe. Will this be a feature of every coin going forward, only time will tell. It has a kurouchi finish so it doesn't clash with your Takeda knife, assuming you can afford one. I may take some fine sandpaper to it to highlight the high spots and make it look more rustic like the knives.
The coin is slightly larger, thicker and heavier than a quarter. The Takeda coin at the spine(there was no heel so I just chose a random place to measure) is 2.69mm, the quarter came in at 1.72mm. Distal taper was non existent but that was also true of the quarter.
The diameter of Takeda coin is 26.59mm with the quarter coming in at 24.23mm. This tells me that there is a good chance that it could get stuck in the average vending machine should you accidently grab it by mistake instead of your quarter.
The weight of the Takeda coin came in at a hearty 12g twice that of the quarter which was a slim 6g. I weighed a $.5 I have and it bested the Takeda by only 1g coming in at 13g. A silver dollar I weighed was a hefty 23g. I actually found the $.5 and silver dollar in the return air vent I cleaned out in a house I was working in. There was a total of $1.73 I found in that vent, finders keepers! True story, now where were we...
All these measurements don't take in account the production differences of various coins or the wear on a the quarter and other coins that has occurred since their production. These measurements only apply to the examples in my possession.
The balance point is where it gets interesting. I flipped the Takeda coin ten times and it came up tails 6/10 flips. Testing it again to be thorough I flipped it 10 more times and it came up tails 6/10 times again. It appears that the Takeda coin is slightly head heavy with tails being on top 12/20 flips. So if you use this coin to decide who's turn it is to wash the dog or take out the trash it would be to your advantage to call tails.
The quarter on the other hand came up tails 6/10 on the first round and then heads 6/10 on the second so it appears to be very evenly balanced making all odds more even.
My overall conclusions of the Takeda coin:
It is a pretty cool collectors piece of swag that you don't want to use in a vending machine but could come in very handy if you need to sway some odds in your favor! I give it a cool thumbs up!
Damn I need another beer!
And thanks Mark, imagine my surprise!
She actually thought the coin was pretty cool.
