1873-1904 Japan 10 Sen Silver Coin

I just won and bought a silver coin on ebay but noticed a discrepancy (It probably doesn't make a difference). But there is not a date on the picture but a range in the description. The card in the picture says 1873-1906 but 1873-1904 in the description. Hmmm anyone own one of these? I googled the terms but only found five results and none of them matched this coin. I just really liked the design and age of the coin.

Link would've helped: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...Mfre07I%3D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

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The side of the coin depicted states 10 Sen in the center. The other side should show the year of Mutsuhito's rule which will determine the date I think. There are others at CT that really read Japanese & can help more. The Krause catalog shows them minted until 1906.

 

Here is one I photographed from my collection a few years ago. You can see the dragon & three legends separated by dots on the other side. I didn't include the date in the photo file name.

 

So its face value was ten cents? And are you referring to the rim when you say "the side of the coin depicted states"?

 

Oh this is a pretty coin!

 

The photo that I saw on your Ebay link showed only one side of the coin. It is the side that has the wreath. There is a chrysanthemum at the top & then at the center there is a "+" which is a Chinese character for 10 and below that the character for Sen. There are 100 Sen to 1 Yen. In that day, the Yen was a silver coin much like the size of a US silver dollar. (So yes, 10 Japan Sen is like 10 US Cents).

 

Very cool. Thanks for the info.

 

There was an old post by gxseries where he shows a Dansco album for Japan type coins. If I could find one of those Dansco albums, I think it would be a really fun (and challenging) project to assemble the collection. If you have the time, do a search for the old thread & check-out all the nice Japan type coins he got (from Ebay I think).

 

Collect89's coin is dated Meiji 37 (read right to left as was the custom then), which is 1904. Between Meiji 6 (1873) and Meiji 39 (1906), more than 165 million of the 17.57mm, 2.7g, .800 silver coins were struck. The seller's date range is simply wrong.

Back then the US dollar and the Japanese yen had the same weight of pure silver, so as noted, 10 sen really was the equivalent of a US dime.

When your coin arrives, you can go to this site for a quick guide to dating it. I'll guarantee that it won't be Meiji 13 (1880) as only 77 were struck according to the Japanese Numismatic Dealers Assn. catalog!

By the way, although during his lifetime the Emperor's personal name was Mutsuhito, after his death he is properly referred to as "the Meiji Emperor" and his name is not used.

 

I see. So it looks like the picture had the range right. Can't wait to get this coin!

 

You mean this link collect89?

http://www.cointalk.com/t73281/



Should be doable if you don't include the tough trade dollar hole.

 

Today, there are many Japanese who do not know the names "Mutsuhito", "Yoshihito", or even "Hirohito". Instead, these emperors are known by their official titles of "Meiji Tenno", "Taisho Tenno", and "Showa Tenno".

 

I got the coin today. I can't figure out the date based on the website you gave me. Could you help me on this please?

 

Read the date from right to left, starting with the two characters for "Meiji" at the top - Mei Ji San Ju Kyu Nen = Meiji 39 year, or 1906.

 

Thanks!

 

I think you should take a closer look at the date-- looks like 29 (1896) to me.

 

that's a 29, not a 39 on that year.

 

Maybe I'll just bring it to the next coin show-lol.

 

Ok it's 1896: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...=true&rt=nc&si=Z9WGdqOMIf86ku5Bg9EXMfre07I%3D

 

Wow that one sold for twice what I paid. I think "Silver!!" had something to do with it!