Hello Silver & Gold stackers! I have another Japanese coin for you today. This time we'll be looking at a 20 sen piece. I'll give some info about the coin, then we'll look at both sides, and then some info on the sen in general.
Sound fun? Let's go!
Some basic coin stats for you:
4.05g
20.3mm diameter
1.2mm thickness
edge: milled
Most importantly, it is 80% silver.
In natural light
In LED light
The front side has a radiant sun shining in the middle surrounded by cherry blossoms. Around the edge it reads: 20 Sen, Great Japan (大日本), Meiji 42 (明治四十二年). It's read from right to left, which is not the normal way today, but was common at the time.
Meiji 42 means the 42nd year of the reign of the Meiji Emperor, Mutsuhito, which would be 1909.
In natural light
In LED light
The back features the text 20 sen in the middle (二十銭). The imperial crest which is a chrysanthemum is at the top, and we have the arms of the laurel wreath on the sides. The left arm is a paulownia flower and the right is a Chrysanthemum flower, both important in Japanese culture.
All in all, a beautifully designed coin. It's a shame they don't use this design anymore. This is the third of three different designs they used during the production of the 20 sen coin. As with the ¥100, I am trying to get my hands on all three, and after I do so I will do a comparison.
NGC lists a melt value is around $2.50 and the coin value is around $5.
Here it is laying on top of a ¥100 coin, which if you'll remember this post is just slightly smaller than a US quarter.
Before the hyperinflation following World War II rendered it useless, the yen was subdivided into 100 sen, making it a little like dollars and cents. But with the incredible inflation after the war it was decided to eliminate the sen and rebase the yen to make it the only unit used.
Interestingly, in the 1990s the Bank of Japan was considering adding a new unit above a yen so we could have returned to this mixed unit system, but ultimately they thought it would be too confusing so they decided to stay with only the yen. I'm sure coin lovers like myself were disappointed, but most normal folks probably happy with the decision.
I have a few more sen coins on order, all with silver, so look forward to more of these looks at them. They may be tiny coins, but the high percentage of silver is nice, and of course historically they are pretty interesting (at least to me).
| David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
