hello, if someone could help me determine the date on this 1 yen coin, that would be great thanks! -Matthew
Yeah, Showa 57 is 1982. "Showa" is the 'regnal title' of emperor Hirohito. So Japanese call Hirohito "Showa Tenno." (Tenno means "god" I think). I just remember that Showa 45 is 1970. You just have to memorize the Chinese characters for how the numbers are represented and then you can easily date these coins.
Close enough Mlov43. "Tenno" means Emperor who was worshiped as a god until those outsiders - the Americans - forced his renunciation of the title with the defeat of the Japanese. The word "kamisama" means god. The Showa 57 is indeed 1982. There will be a new Emperor this coming March. The year will thus change to his chosen title. BTW, great write-up on Korean coins.
http://www.starcityhomer.com/reading-japanese-coins.html http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~watson/ref/mtsh.html
Hi Stork... Great to see you back on Coin Talk. I am still collecting Japanese coins. Saw a group of Japanese dealers at the ANA Philadelphia show.
Hi! I was there too, did a poor job of meeting up with people though! I did a 'my version of a show report' over on CU. PM on the way .
