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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Eidolon, post: 4367330, member: 102103&quot;]Part 6:&nbsp; 1 yen</p><p>L:&nbsp; Meiji year 45 (1912)&nbsp; R:&nbsp; Showa year 24 (1949)[ATTACH=full]1103460[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]1103461[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Meiji Era one yen coin was a large, silver dollar-sized coin introduced in the monetary reforms after the end of the Tokugawa Period.&nbsp; It was divided into 100 sen, and one sen made 10 rin.&nbsp; Many fakes of the silver yen exist.&nbsp; They carry a significant premium over silver these days.&nbsp; In the 90s, I could occasionally find them for $20 and under, usually chop-marked.&nbsp; I can&#039;t vouch for authenticity, but the weight and diameter look correct.</p><p><br /></p><p>I believe the 1 yen silver was made for a single year in the Taisho Era (Year 3 = 1914) and then discontinued until after WW2.&nbsp; Japan experienced significant inflation in the early 1900s, and then runaway inflation plus debasement during the war.&nbsp; By 1948, 1 yen was a small brass base-metal coin worth about 1/360 of a dollar.&nbsp; The brass type shown right was minted from Showa 23-25 (1948-1950) and then replaced with the modern aluminum type still in use.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The new aluminum 1 yen coins are very light and flimsy.&nbsp; Japanese prices are often given as round numbers, so that you wouldn&#039;t get a lot of small change when making purchases.&nbsp; (Japan has much more of a cash culture than in the US.&nbsp; Even one&#039;s monthly salary was often paid out in cash.)&nbsp; Prices on some retail goods will have an odd 税抜き (zeinuki = pretax) price so that after the consumption tax the 税込み (zeikomi = tax included) price will come out even.&nbsp; One yen coins are considered an annoyance and held in the same lack of esteem as US pennies.&nbsp; Such a small-value coin is still minted for historical reasons, and because it is the base unit of the monetary system, but no one wants them much.</p><p><br /></p><p>One yen coins are said to float on water.&nbsp; Not strictly true:&nbsp; aluminum has a density of 2.7 (2.7 times denser than water), so they do sink.&nbsp; But if you can lay one flat the surface tension is such that it is possible to get them to float.&nbsp; I just tried it out, and it does work:</p><p><br /></p><p>L:&nbsp; 1 yen, floating with surface tension.&nbsp; R:&nbsp; Sinks if you disturb it</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1103481[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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