Japan. AR 1 yen. Meiji 16 (1883 AD). Multiple Chinese merchant or banker chopmarks on obverse and reverse, plus on reverse character "gin" (silver) in circle to left of "ichi" (one) of inscription. This coin: Steve Album Internet-only Auction 16, lot 862 (2022). In 1897, Japan switched from a bimetallic (silver and gold) monetary standard to a gold-only standard, based around a revalued gold yen. As a result, old 1 yen coins were withdrawn from circulation. Some were melted, while others received a stamp of "gin" (silver) to prevent re-exchange for new gold yen (at a profit) and were exported to Korea and China as bullion. In China, these coins would usually end up with merchant or banker chopmarks to indicate that the piece was good silver and acceptable in trade. This is my first chopmarked coin in my collection, I like that it has enough chopmarks to indicate significant circulation but not so many that they destroy the design of the undertype. Please share your chopmarked coins, or whatever else is relevant.
Love it! Chopmarked coins are always something I can get excited about. Here is an 1897 (Zacatecas) Mexico 8 Reales I won at the 2021 ANA YN Auction. It has just a few, small chopmarks on the reverse. I wonder why it has so few. It also has some unadvertised PVC residue that I still need to do something about.
