hey guys, i recently found about five old 1942 chinese coins in an old box in my house. these coins have a large 100 on the back and have a clump of flowers on the front. some other coins i found from the same date have a 50 on the back and have a large hole in the middle. as a strictly american coin collector, i have no knowledge of these coins whatsoever. does anyone know what these are and if they are even slightly valueable thanks, your friend, Chevy
If you can post a couple images - I can give you a general idea although there are some on this forum who may know off the top of their head.
I'll wager that you think these coins are dated 1942 because they have "42" on them in western numerals. What you actually have are 1967 Japanese ¥50 (Y#81) and ¥100 (Y#82) coins. 1967 on the western calendar was year 42 of the Showa era (Emperor Hirohito). They were the first copper-nickle coins of those denominations. The ¥50 (mintage 238.4-million) is essentially the same design as, but smaller than the previous nickle coin (Y#76). The ¥100 (mintage 432.2-million) replaced a silver coin of the same size. Both are still being minted today with Heisei era (Emperor Akihito) dates. The '67s are extremely common with the ¥50 cataloged at 75¢/$1 XF/Unc; and the ¥100 at $1.50/$2.50 in those grades. They still show up in circulation.
