Visited a local coin show recommended by a forum member today, and picked up several additions to my modern Japanese collection. The prize was this AU/Unc 50 sen from Meiji 3 (1870), the first year of modern milled Japanese coinage. Although my scanner hasn't picked it up, it has a nice lusterous surface and a superb strike with just a hint of tarnish, and no clear evidence of cleaning (although there are scattered hairlines on some of the fields). If you look closely at the denomination you can see a small thin die crack extending from the left side of the 10 character (the one that looks like a plus sign) through the crossbar and over to the center horizontal line of the 5 character. The Japanese Mint's quality control, from the very beginning, is known for its excellence, and releasing coins with die cracks or errors is much less common than is occurring with the DeadPrez dollars today.
Roy,that is a very nice Japanese silver 50 Sen.These coins are not common at all,by a long shot.The uncountermarked silver 1 Yen coins are also very uncommon as well. Aidan.
Perhaps they are in New Zealand, but availability there is hardly a true measure of whats going on in the rest of the world. In the US coins with the "Gin" countermark are relatively rarer than chopmarked coins, and much scarcer than coins with neither. At the Osaka Coin Show a few years ago the mix seemed similar to what I have seen at US shows, with perhaps a slightly smaller percentage of chopped coins, but not many countermaked at Osaka and hardly any countermarked at Tokyo..
Impressive, Roy. Truly a coin that anyone would be proud to own. Thanks for taking the time to share your prize with us.
Congradulations Roy! I haven't had much sucess with my Japanese coin typeset because of the mad prices these recent years. However I picked up this damaged coin related to Japanese coinage - Korean Protectrate under Japan: If it weren't for that damage, it would easily be a 3 figure coin.
Gxseries,that is a very nice example of a Korean 1/2 Won.We see the 5 Fun & 1/4 Yang coins over here,but I did have a 1/2 Chon that was issued during the reign of the last Emperor of Korea (1907-10) in my collection of non-British Commonwealth coins,which I am in the process of offloading. Aidan.
Indeed it is. Many fine coin shops, and the Japanese Numismatics Dealers Association annually publishes a wonderful catalog of Japanese coins, going back over a thousand years. I've even found coins for sale in hotel gift shops.
silvereagle82 - it is VERY popular for elites in Japan, especially Meiji gold coins. PRICEY I tell you!!! http://www.coinvault.com/japan.htm Last two years ago when the Japanese government released some gold coins from it's vault to reduce it's national debt, there were some ultra rare coins, you are talking about RARE mintage or some that NEVER made it into circulation. Plenty of mad bidders. http://www.technoclicks.com/article-1449.php
I forgot to mention that cheap copies, replicas, models, etc of kobans are available throughout Japan especially tourist spots. You can never miss it. It's said to be that if you keep a koban in your wallet, your money will increase over time. Interestingly enough, I do have one in my other wallet - it did "seem" to work at one stage.
Thanks for sharing your new coin. My only Japanese coin is a 1935 (my birth year) 50 Sen piece. Unc. Clinker
