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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Stork, post: 3507119, member: 71642&quot;]Blowing up the photo, the one in the 400 yen 2x2 looks more like it should be a Isshu-gin (1 shu silver).&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Smaller and more common and starting from the Ansei era, but extending to the Meiji era.&nbsp; The mintage of them increased significantly after the arrival of Admiral Perry/opening of Japan so they are common.&nbsp; The Meiji ones are scarcer (a bit over 10% of the mintage from Ansei), and there are calligraphy differences to distinguish varieties.&nbsp; I can&#039;t see from your photo whether yours is Ansei or Meiji and after that I don&#039;t know the varieties.</p><p><br /></p><p>The silver to gold exchange ratio was such that there was a large scale exchange of silver to gold, which would then get more silver in the rest of the world (if I read the history right).&nbsp; Easy profit.&nbsp; Hartill&#039;s book uses the example of using 10 ounces of silver to buy an ounce of gold, then taking the gold back home and getting 15-16 ounces of silver back.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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