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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;mlov43, post: 7568083, member: 16729&quot;]Awesome.&nbsp; Thanks for the information!</p><p><br /></p><p>I wonder if a new constitution in Japan is tantamount to demonetizing previously-issued coins?&nbsp; I only ask, since I&#039;ve been studying South Korean coins, and the coins in that country only get demonetized (legal removal of currency status) when the central bank <b>announces</b> that the coins to have been declared &quot;suspended circulation&quot; (유통정지).&nbsp; There is also &quot;suspension of distribution&quot; (발행중지), meaning the central bank no longer issues the coins out into the economy and (likely) requires branch locations to sequester the coins from circulation mostly for later storage/recycling, BUT these coins are NOT demonetized, just removed.</p><p><br /></p><p>South Korea has had several governments and revised constitutions since 1948, and none of these changes meant that the then circulating money was demonetized or removed UNLESS the government declared a currency reform (which they did three times), or just decides to demonetize a coin/note at some time.</p><p><br /></p><p>About the 500-Yen:&nbsp; Was the counterfeiting of the 500-Yen due to weak slug detecting ability in Japanese vending machines prior to 1999?</p><p><br /></p><p>A little backgound:&nbsp; The criminals were drilling divots into the surface of South Korean 500-Won coins and depositing them into Japanese cash machines or vending machines and hitting the &quot;reset&quot; button.&nbsp; Japanese vending machines did not (back then?) return the coin you put into the machine, but dropped one from the coin hopper, giving the criminals REAL 500-Yen coins.&nbsp; One Seoul newspaper accurately described the activity as “buying 500 <i>yen</i> at less than a seventh of the price.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Both the Japanese coin and the Korean coin were made of the same cupronickel composition, same diameter, but the Korean coin was heavier.&nbsp; Hence the divots dug into the faces of the &quot;500-Won slugs.&quot;</p><p>--------------------</p><p>Edit:&nbsp; By the way, the Japan Mint&#039;s Public Relation Office are rockstars. They were very helpful with providing me information on the training of South Korea&#039;s Mint workers (although limited was the information).&nbsp; Very helpful people!&nbsp; They should be able to answer any questions you have for them.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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