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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Stork, post: 3440911, member: 71642&quot;]Hi [USER=10461]@lordmarcovan[/USER] -- just seeing this with time to answer <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The one yen has several iterations.&nbsp; The one you picture is the first year, Meiji 3.&nbsp; Here is a page I did a few years ago trying to explain the reading of the coins in general.&nbsp; </p><p><a href="http://www.starcityhomer.com/reading-japanese-coins.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.starcityhomer.com/reading-japanese-coins.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.starcityhomer.com/reading-japanese-coins.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Yours is Meiji 3, or the first year of circulation for the new, modern style coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first year of the one yen coin can have rim variations, die cracks, etc. It was at the very beginning of the modern coinage and the Japan mint was using machinery purchased from Hong Kong IIRC.&nbsp; People think of Japanese coins not being error prone, but there are plenty of clashes, brockages, and rotations to be found from the early days.&nbsp; The first two years also had variants which showed different engraving approaches on the smaller denominations.&nbsp; And after 1871 there was a brief hiatus after which the coins had a new design, replacing the sunburst reverse with denominations.&nbsp; But, as usual, I digress.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>In year 3 the coin was 38.58mm and 26.96 grams.&nbsp; From year 7 to year 20 the weight is the same and the diameter 38.6mm.&nbsp; There is a tiny difference in diameter, enough for the catalog to note, but .02 is pretty small!&nbsp; Year 20 is a transition and from there until the coin ceases production the diameter is smaller, 38.1 with the weight stable.&nbsp; (And there is one oddball mixed in there at 38.3 mm during year 19...).</p><p><br /></p><p>There are years where the overlapping spines, pearl engraving, shape of a number, etc can distinguish variants, but that is not the standard for year 3.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Year 3 types primarily revolve around the way the yen character appears (there are other variants such as the sunburst on the reverse can come with or without a border, but there are other nuances of which I remain ignorant).&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The catalogs specifically refer to type 1,2, and 3.&nbsp; On yours I am having a hard time seeing an exact match.&nbsp; Anyway, this is a graphic I put together using the JNDA catalog of differing years/artwork to give an idea. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]913510[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>For real coins I can&#039;t find my original shots, but if you scroll down on this page I do have a couple of side-by-side shots of type I and II.&nbsp; Hoping to have a type III of my own soon!&nbsp; At which point maybe I&#039;ll finish up that website a bit more.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.starcityhomer.com/yen-obsolete.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.starcityhomer.com/yen-obsolete.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.starcityhomer.com/yen-obsolete.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>So, as to your coin, I would take careful measurements, and look at it closely for evidence of casting or other obvious trickery.&nbsp; The yen symbol is hard for me to see in your photo, so I can&#039;t really comment, but the shadows make me a little suspect of the top crossbar which should be present in all three types.&nbsp; And, at the end of the day, if you can&#039;t quickly count it as a fake, then a trip to ANACS is a very economical way to figure it out.&nbsp; NGC, PCGS, and IGC would also do.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>And, if you could get some better shots that would be great.&nbsp; A lot of the cell phones can do pretty well if you set the phone on a stable surface like a stack of books and use a remote to trigger the shutter--some of the earbud sets can do that.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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