Can someone tell me if Japan issued proof sets or mint sets back in 1973? If yes, how hard are they to find? Thanks, Brian
If you are looking for a birth year set, or have some other special reason for wanting a 1973 set, I'm afraid you're out of luck. Although the first Japanese mint set was issued in 1968, none were issued in 1973-74. The first Japanese proof set wasn't issued until 1987.
Ok, thanks. I know you're kind of an expert on Japanese coins. Can you tell me what coin types were minted for circulation that year? I know it's kinda wierd maybe, but I've decided to collect every variety of 1973 (my birth year) of coin I can find from around the world. Just something I thought would be fun & for the most part not overly expensive (hopefully). I like the newer Japanese proof sets, so that's why I was wondering if they did them back then. ~Brian
1973 was Showa 48 on the Japanese calendar. In that year the following coins were minted: ¥1, aluminum, Y#73 ¥5, brass Y#71 ¥10, bronze Y#73 ¥50, cu-ni Y#81 ¥100, cu-ni Y#82 Except for the ¥5 coin, all of them had the same basic design as the currently minted ones. The ¥5 was the last year of issue for it's design, which has no hole in the middle, and depicts the Diet (Parliament) Building on the reverse. The ¥10 had a milled edge, while the current design has a smooth edge. The ¥50 and ¥100 coins were the first ones issued with Arabic numbers instead of the Chinese number characters generally used in Japan. The current coins have different catalog numbers from those of 1973 because Krause assigns new catalog numbers based on the Nengo (regnal name) changes, and the distinction between the character Gan ("First") on coins of a new reign, and the characters for numbers on the others.
