Japanese One Yen- your opinions please
jfriedm56
Posts: 1,156 ✭✭✭✭✭
Can anyone tell me what year this coin was minted and how to find the date. Also if anyone knows it’s current market value. It looks to be in an AU grade, though darkly toned. Thanks for looking 
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明治十七年 (upside down on the upper image, read right to left) is Meiji 17 year. The Gregorian (Western) date is 1884.
These coins are heavily counterfeited.
@pruebas, wow, thanks for your reply. This coin was included in a grouping of coins, paper currency and military memorabilia, from a friend’s father who served in WW2. He was stationed in the South Pacific during and after the war. So this coin along with others were kept in his basement for the last 80 years. Were they counterfeiting these coins then, because, would it make sense to do that 80+ years ago on a 1 dollar equivalent coin? Also, was this coin issued in response to the US and Chinese Trade dollars? Thanks.
Reading the coins.
https://starcityhomer.com/reading-japanese-coins.html
date conversion
meijigakuin.ac.jp/~watson/ref/mtsh.html://
Yes, very heavily counterfeited. Contemporary and later. Initially minted for use in trade. Ultimately many were stamped 'silver' and set out of country (the ones with the gin mark that literally means silver). Dimensions and weight are useful for a first pass at determining counterfeit vs. genuine. M.17/1884 is not a super rare date or anything but that doesn't mean it wasn't faked.
Hey @Stork, you've got to update that great website for Reiwa (令和)!