We continue our New Years Celebration today with part VII of my 12 Days of Christmas coin wishlist series. It's now the 4th and the 12 Days of Christmas are almost over, so this may be my last post in the series. One over half way is as good a place to end as any, I suppose.

So what will I pick for my last one. Hmm....how about this!

Japan doesn't do a lot of commemorative gold coins, but every now and again for a big anniversary or occasion they will do one. The one I've chosen was made for the 30th anniversary of the enthronement of the Heisei emperor, Akihito.

The obverse features that a nicely designed phoenix and some paulownia leaves. Then the reverse

features the chrysanthemum crest of the imperial family. The text says across the top 御在位三十年, Gozaii Sanjūnen "30th year of reign", and across the bottom 日本国, nihon koku, "State of Japan"; 1 万円, ichi man en, "10,000 yen"; and 平成31年, Heisei sanjūnen, "Year 31 of Heisei". Heisei 31 was 2019.

It is .999 gold, weighs 20g, and has a diameter of 28 mm.

These coins go for around $2k for a graded copy. Well outside of my budget. But they are beautiful coins so I'd love to have one.

That phoenix design on the obverse is somewhat similar to the design used on the 1957 and 1958 ¥100 coin (which was 60% silver). It only lasted two years on the ¥100 coin; I'm told because so soon after the war there was a public outcry and opposition to having a symbol of the emperor on a coin. It's a shame, because I really like these old ¥100 coins. But nice to see them bring back a very similar image in this commemorative coin.

The Heisei emperor, Akihito, is still alive. He took the throne upon the death of his father in 1989 and reigned until 2019 when he abdicated, citing health issues. He's 90 this year, I think, making him the oldest emperor in Japanese history. There are some legendary emperors from long long ago who were said to have lived over 120 years, but there isn't any evidence that they actually existed. He's still kicking, at any rate. In 2022 he was diagnosed with "heart failure", but he's still around, so maybe it's a slow failure.

Anyway, he retired just a few months past the start of his 31st year. He had announced his wish to retire several months before, so they might have done this coin as more of a celebration of his entire reign and not just the 30th anniversary.

So ends my 12 Days of Christmas coin wishlist. Next year I'll try to start a bit early so that I can actually cover all twelve coins before Jan 5th.

See the rest of this series: #1 The Gate of Nikko, #2 Silver Yen Dragon, #3 Gold Koban, #4 Aichi Shachihoko, #5 Hachiko, #6 Lucky Turtle.

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. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.