The weight is 27 gm; the diameter is 38.7 mm; it has a reeded edge. I've been told the direction of spiral on the Pearl is significant; this is left-hand, or CCW. The same advisor mentioned the number of flames on or near the Dragon, without further clarification. Is the date of mintage shown in the characters around the Dragon? Is there a mintmark? Are there indications of it being counterfeit? As always, I'm very grateful for all your comments! Warren
Try this one: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces15183.html A point of note: I am 100% unfamiliar with these, but in numista, you can do an advanced search using the data you have. I put Japan, I put 39mm, because you round up or down to the nearest whole number. I put 27 for weight. That’s how I found your coin. As to authenticity, I’ll leave that to people who have studied it a bit... @TypeCoin971793
Another point of note: I was too lazy and/or distracted at the time of my post to do that (I really should be working), so kudos to @Seattlite86 for doing it.
Now: If genuine, is it gonna gain any value if I get it slabbed? Never done that...how to choose the Grading Service? Is ANACS in favor, or?
Here's a link to learn how to read Japanese and Chinese numbers and dates on coins. World Coin Collecting: Reading Japanese Numbers and Datesportlandcoins.blogspot.com/2012/11/reading-japanese-numbers-and-dates.html I collect Oriental silver coins. This one looks "good to go" , but I'm only going off of your pix. The weight seems correct also.
ANACS is OK and probably less expensive. NGC has the biggest recognition with World coins, I believe, but I prefer PCGS, since you get a good TrueView image. PCGS and NGC will cost you, though; anywhere from $35-50-ish after all the fees and return shipping and such.
There's a guy named Loong Siew who knows this stuff really well. I haven't seen him around in a while.
At the bottom of the coin you can see a box shaped character with a flat line to the right of it, all of that between 2 dots. The flat line means 1, the box means Yen, so the coin is a 1 Yen. To know the year you have to 1) Decipher the era, 2) Decipher the year of the era, each era starts at a different year of our calendar. To read the coin, go right from the symbols I've explained and you'll see 4 symbols past the dot. The first simply means "year", the second means 3, the next 2 are the symbols for the Meiji era. You read old Japanese from right to left, so you have Meiji era third year. The era on this coin is Meiji. The year is 3. The Meiji era started in 1867, so add 3 and subtract 1, which gives you 1869. It's all explained in the link I gave you. The remaining 3 symbols simply mean " Great Japan ". The age of the coin is why there is no English on it. Newer coins also have English. The lack of English is a good indicator that the coin is real. Be aware that the Chinese are counterfeiting everything these days. I think the coin is good but I'm only going off of the pix and the weight and size you gave us. If you have access to an X-ray gun, test the silver. If there's a Gold and Silver buyer near by, they should have a gun and shoot it for you. If not, maybe a touchstone and acid test. The silver should be .900 fine. This coin is basically a Japanese Trade Dollar. Almost the same size and weight as everyone else's Trade Dollar. You know, I'm thinking " Why doesn't a coin this old have more wear on it? " Maybe the coin has been put up somewhere all these years...or maybe it is a counterfeit. Look at the rims. Does it look like they've been rolled over....or something? I would get that coin tested for silver content, right away. Have you tested it with a magnet yet? That's the first thing you do with a silver coin. Anyway, Good Luck with it. Let us know how it turns out.
I found the coin on NGC coins. Also it is listed there as an 1870 but same coin. The link I posted says to add the year number, then subtract one. Regardless, It's the same coin. It's the Y# 5.2, type II japan-yen-y-5.2-yr.31870-cuid-1207759-duid-1449390 The melt is $11.78. The given value is $500.00 for VF 20, and $700.00 for XF 40.
If that's the right attribution, then it's definitely worth slabbing. In fact, that's highly recommended, since there's a heightened risk of Chinese counterfeits with this sort of thing.
I don’t like the rims, the mishy dragon details, and the out-of-round circle in the sun on the reverse.