I have recently seen a one yen piece with the date of Meiji era 2. I cannot find any such coins shown in the catalogues that are less than Meiji 3. Does anyone know if there were fakes of the Meiji era with such a date? Thanks
Welcome meijiyen. It's nice to have another forum member interested in my favorite currency/coinage. Please tell us a little about yourself in the Introduction Forum. That's one I don't have to see to assure you that it is probably Chinese, possibly Bulgarian, and as genuine as a U.S. $3 bill ! The reason you don't find anything cataloged with a date earlier than Meiji 3 (1870), is that the very denomination "yen" was formally created by the Shinka Jorel ("New Coinage Act") of Meiji 4, although some patterns were produced the previous year, and the first official coins were given the earlier date. As quoted in Modern Japanese Coinage by Cummings, the act provided, in part: "The standard unit of the new coinage shall be called yen." The basic unit had been the mon, which was made equal to the new minor denomination "rin". In turn 10 rin made one "sen", and 1,000 rin, or 100 sen, made one "yen". Some of the Chinese EBayers not only sell fake Meiji 2 coins, but also fakes dated Meiji 1, which is even more absurd since the first year of a Japanese Emperor's reign is dated "gan", meaning first, not "1".
