Old Japanese Coin?

Hello all! I was hoping for help in identifying this old coin. I believe it is Japanese; however, I'm not 100% sure. It appears to be either copper or bronze. A magnet does not stick to it. I know the dash in the middle is a one. I also think that the character to the left of the dash and above the lotus flower might say "Year." All help and comments are appreciated!

 

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The dash is: 1
The symbol below is the value: BU

1 BU

I'll figure the rest out in a bit...

 

Thank you! That in itself is a huge help!

 

It's from Taiwan maybe.

 

Now that's interesting. I thought of China but not Taiwan. What makes you think that?

 

Well, because I think I made a mistake. Frankly I can't tell what it is...yet. Hope I didn't send you off track. Almost 100% sure about the 1 BU though

 

I think what you ID'd as "year" is correct. Clockwise from that symbol is 8 then 10. Can't figure the rest.

 

Oh good, I have someone going through what I've been going through. ;D
I've been changing my mind often. Thanks for all of your input! You've got me on the right track for certain. I now know it's 1 BU.

 

Oh really? Because, if I'm correct, reading is from left to right, so that would possibly be 18 year?

 

I think you have to also know the era of the coin to convert the date to Western translation.

 

8 followed by 10 is 80 I believe.

 

I think this is one of those unusual coins that you read counterclockwise so that you end with the symbol for year. From this site, "On Japanese coins, the date is usually read clockwise (right-to-left). It begins with the symbols for the era name (see the list above), followed by the era year, and ends with the symbol for year (年). While most coins are read right-to-left, some need to be read left-to-right (counter-clockwise). The symbol for year (年) is always at the end of the date, so if you see it at the left-hand end of a number, read it from right-to-left; if you see it at the right-hand end, read it left-to-right.

 

Manchurian Province 1929 1 fen

 

And that concludes amateur hour at Coin Talk. I'll be here all week. Be sure to tip your waitress. Try the veal.

 

Hahahaha!!! Thank you all!! LOL, I can't stop laughing.

 

Gxseries has already correctly identified the coin.

You can see another specimen here.

Gary

 

Got to love the effort! I was trying in the background but wasn't willing to stick my neck out. Good job bdunnse!

 

This coin is actually quite interesting if you do a bit of research.

Compare the Manchurian coin against this coin that was used in Japan back then:





As it may suggest, the waves look quite identical and so is the presentation. This is one of the signs that the Japanese were running behind the show until the official Japanese occupation in 1931.

More interesting historical read can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Manchuria#Russian_and_Japanese_encroachment