1 yen coin
Introduction The  is the smallest denomination of the Japanese yen currency. Historically they were initially made of both silver and gold in the early 1870s. Issues facing the Japanese government at the time included wanting to adopt the gold standard, and competing against the Mexican dollar for use in foreign trade. The decision was made to use silver one yen coins exclusively outside of Japan for trade, while gold coins were minted and used in mainland Japan. Gold and silver coins were eventually allowed to co-circulate in mainland Japan from 1878 to 1897 when they were demonetized. Millions of former one yen silver coins were countermarked by the Japanese government for use outside of the mainland. Silver one yen coins continued to be minted until 1914 for backing up currency.One yen coins were not made again until after World War II in the late 1940s for a brief period of time. The current one yen coin design was first minted in 1955, is made up of pure aluminium, and has a young tree design which has been used since. In the early 2010s increasing usage of electronic money led to a lack of demand, and production of the coin was confined to mint sets until 2014.Regular production only lasted until 2016, when new one yen coins were again confined only to mint sets. Like with the U.S. penny, the Japan Mint has minted one-yen coins at a loss due to the rising cost of the base metal used in the coins.
History ===Early yen (1870–1914)===The first Japanese one-yen coins were minted between 1871 and 1872 using both silver and gold alloys. This came at a time when a new decimal system was put into place, and a modern mint was established at Osaka. The yen was officially adopted by the Meiji government in an act signed on June 27, 1871.While silver one yen coins are dated 1870, this indicates their mintage date at the San Francisco Mint as the coins were not issued until the following year. Gold one yen coins dated 1871 were not minted until 1872 at the newly formed Osaka mint. No silver one yen coins were struck in 1873 as the year was devoted to turning out gold pieces domestically. The exclusive minting of gold coins during this time was reflective of the Japanese government's wish to switch to the gold standard in order to keep up with countries in North America and Europe. The Japanese government eventually came to the conclusion that issuing silver one yen coins alongside standard gold coins was in the best interest of foreign trade. Silver one yen coinage was resumed in 1874 for use outside of Japan to compete with the silver Mexican dollar.During the same year gold bullion rose to a slight premium which caused gold coin production as a whole to rapidly fall off. It was reported in the Quarterly Journal of Economics that by 1876 more gold coins were exported to foreign countries than for use domestically. Gold coinage finally came to an end in 1877 as the Japanese government was forced off the gold standard due to the cost of the Satsuma Rebellion. Japan ultimately chose to go with a bimetallic standard in 1878, which gave the one yen silver coin legal tender status throughout the country. From 1878 to 1897, large amounts of one yen coins were struck as the declining price of silver increased their demand. The fluctuations over the price of silver eventually made trade with Europe and the United States unreliable.After years of advisement, the Japanese government officially switched back to the gold standard on October 1, 1897 as a solution to the trading problem. Silver one yen coins were thus officially demonetized with granted leeway time until July 31, 1898 for those wanting to trade the coins for gold. The remaining silver coins in circulation were then either melted down to provide bullion for subsidiary coins, or were countermarked "Gin" for use in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, Korea, and Lüshunkou. Silver one yen coins were not stuck again until 1901 when they served as a reserve fund for "Bank of Formosa" notes. Due to the fluctuations in price between silver and gold, this practice came to an end in 1904.The production of silver one yen coins eventually ended in 1914 during the 3rd year of Emperor Taishō's reign.===Modern yen (1948–)===Japanese coinage was reformed in 1948 with the issue of a brass one-yen coin. 451,170,000 coins were minted until production stopped in 1950.The obverse of these brass coins features a numeral "1" with "State of Japan" above, and the date below, while the reverse reads "One Yen" with a floral pattern below it. The current aluminium coin was first introduced in 1955 with a floral design. The obverse has a young tree, intended to symbolize the healthy growth of Japan. The reverse side of the coin has a figure "1" in a circle that represents one yen; below the digit is the year of issue which is written in ''kanji''. The one yen coin remains the oldest modern denomination coin with an unchanged design; throughout its minting history the coin was fully halted only once in 1968 due to excessive production. In 1989 a national consumption tax (set at 3%) was put into place resulting in many prices that were not multiples of 5 or 10 yen, causing the Japan Mint to produce one yen coins in huge amounts.This consumption tax rate was raised in 1997 to 5%, reducing demand for the coin. By the turn of the century other factors such as rising metal costs and increasing usage of electronic money began to come into play. It was reported in 2003 that it cost 13 yen for the mint to produce a rolled plate for one yen coins. The rising price of aluminum had started to generate a commercial loss for the Japan Mint. In 2009, unsuccessful measures that included raising money from the private sector were tried in order to lower the cost. From 2011 to 2013 the Ministry of Finance stopped issuing new one yen coins for circulation. There was a small production run of 500,000 to 700,000 coins in mint sets for coin collectors. Production resumed in 2014 when the consumption tax was raised again to 8%, causing sums to be less rounded. The cost of producing each one yen coin was reported to be 3 yen as early as 2015.In the following year, more cashless transactions caused the ministry to stop issuing new one yen coins for circulation again. No coins have been made since 2016 apart from those in collectable mint sets.One-yen coins have also seen non monetary usage; since all 1-yen coins weigh just one gram, they are sometimes used as weights. If placed carefully on the surface of still water, 1-yen coins will not break surface tension and thus can also float.
Elimination proposal & public opinion On February 25, 2021 CDP leader Kenta Izumi proposed to abolish 1 and 5-yen coins due to the fee involved with depositing them at banks. Izumi's issue was that a fee of 550 yen is incurred at most major banks for deposits involving 101 coins or more. Taro Aso, who was at the time the Minister of Finance pushed back on the notion stating "we have no plans to abolish it immediately" as there is a demand for small value transactions. It was reported in October 2017 that one yen coins remained popular in places like Osaka, where the coins are traditionally used for these types of merchant transactions.According to correspondent Leo Lewis of the ''Financial Times'', the overall use of cash will not be "broken easily" in Japan. Lewis says that elderly Japanese people have not been eager for innovation, and conditions such as "low street crime, low interest rates and a reduced threshold on inheritance tax" remain in place that increase the appeal of carrying cash.
Types and specifications Modern 1-yen aluminium coins weigh exactly 1 gram each and can float on water. Year(s)  Material Diameter Mass Gold 1871 90% gold, 10% copper 13.5 mm 1.67 g 1874, 1876–1877, 1880, 1892  90% gold, 10% copper 12 mm 1.67 g Silver 1870–1874 90% silver, 10% copper 38.5 mm 26.96 g 1874–1887 90% silver, 10% copper 38.6 mm 26.96 g 1888–1914 90% silver, 10% copper 38.1 mm 26.96 g Modern 1948–1950 Brass 19.5 mm 3.2 g 1955–present 100% aluminium 20.0 mm 1.0 g
Circulation figures ===Meiji===The following are circulation figures for the coins minted between the 3rd and the 45th and last year of Emperor Meiji's reign. Coins for this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 明治 (Meiji). One yen trade dollars, minor varieties, and patterns are not included here. Countermarked yen ("Gin") are included in the original mintage totals. *Inscriptions on Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left: "Year" ← Number representing year of reign ← Emperor's name (e.g. 年 ← 五十三 ← 治明)====Gold====1 yen gold coin from 1874 (year 7)(one design used) Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage 04 4th 四 1871   07 7th 七 1874   09 9th 九 1876   10th 十 1877   13th 三十 1880   25th 五十二 1892  Not circulated====Silver====1 yen silver coin from 1870 (year 3)Design 1 - (1870)1 yen silver coin from 1874 (year 7)Design 2 - (1874–1914) Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage 03 3rd 三 1870 (All types  07 7th 七 1874   08 8th 八 1875   11th 一十 1878   12th 二十 1879   13th 三十 1880   14th 四十 1881  15th 五十 1882  16th 六十 1883  17th 七十 1884  18th 八十 1885  19th 九十 1886  20th 十二 1887  21st 一十二 1888  22nd 二十二 1889   23rd 三十二 1890   24th 四十二 1891  25th 五十二 1892 (Early variety)  25th 五十二 1892 (Late variety) 26th 六十二 1893  27th 七十二 1894  28th 八十二 1895  29th 九十二 1896  30th 十三 1897  34th 四十三 1901  35th 五十三 1902  36th 六十三 1903  37th 七十三 1904  38th 八十三 1905  39th 九十三 1906  41st 一十四  1908  45th 五十四 1912 ===Taishō===The following is a circulation figure for coins that were minted during the 3rd year of Taishō's reign. Coins from this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 大正 (Taishō). This was the final year one yen coins were minted in silver, and is a one year type. *Inscriptions on Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left: :"Year" ← Number representing year of reign ← Emperor's name (Ex: 年 ← 三十 ← 正大) Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage 3rd 三 1914 11,500,000===Shōwa===1 yen coin from 1948 (year 23)Design 1 (1948 - 1950)1 yen coin from 1955 (year 30)Design 2 (1955 - 1989)The following are circulation dates which cover Emperor Showa's (Hirohito's) reign. The dates below correspond to the 23rd to the 64th (last) years of his reign. Inscriptions on coins for this period all begin with the kanji characters 昭和 (Shōwa).These coins are read from left to right::Emperor's name → Number representing year of reign → "Year" (Ex: 昭和 → 六十二 → 年). Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage 23rd 二十三 1948 (Brass) 451,170,000 24th 二十四 1949 (Brass) 25th 二十五 1950 (Brass) 30th  1955 381,700,000 31st  1956 500,900,000 32nd  1957 492,000,000 33rd  1958 374,900,000 34th  1959 208,600,000 35th  1960 300,000,000 36th  1961 432,400,000 37th  1962 572,000,000 38th  1963 788,700,000 39th  1964 1,665,100,000 40th  1965 1,743,256,000 41st  1966 807,344,000 42nd  1967 220,600,000 44th  1969 184,700,000 45th  1970 556,400,000 46th  1971 904,950,000 47th  1972 1,274,950,000 48th  1973 1,470,000,000 49th  1974 1,750,000,000 50th  1975 1,656,150,000 51st  1976 928,850,000 52nd  1977 895,000,000 53rd  1978 864,000,000 54th  1979 1,015,000,000 55th  1980 1,145,000,000 56th  1981 1,206,000,000 57th  1982 1,017,000,000 58th  1983 1,086,000,000 59th  1984 981,850,000 60th  1985 837,150,000 61st  1986 417,960,000 62nd  1987 955,775,000 63rd  1988 1,269,042,000 64th  1989 116,100,000===Heisei===A one-yen coin of the Heisei era, year 18 (2006)The following are circulation dates during the reign of Emperor Akihito (Heisei), who reigned from 1989 until his abdication in April 2019.The first year of his reign is marked with a 元 symbol on the coin as a one year type. Coins for this period all begin with the kanji characters 平成 (Heisei). One-yen coins dated between 2011 and 2013 were only released in mint sets. Mintage was briefly resumed in 2014 only for it to be halted again in 2016.No one yen coins were released for circulation for the remainder of Heisei's reign.These coins are read with from left to right::Emperor's name → Number representing year of reign → "Year" (e.g. 平成 → 九 → 年). Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage 01 1st  1989 2,366,970,000 02 2nd  1990 2,768,953,000 03 3rd  1991 2,301,120,000 04 4th  1992 1,299,130,000 05 5th  1993 1,261,240,000 06 6th  1994 1,040,767,000 07 7th  1995 1,041,874,000 08 8th  1996 942,213,000 09 9th  1997 783,086,000 10th  1998 452,612,000 11th  1999 67,120,000 12th  2000 12,026,000 13th  2001 8,024,000 14th  2002 9,667,000 15th  2003 117,406,000 16th  2004 52,903,000 17th  2005 30,029,000 18th  2006 129,594,000 19th  2007 223,904,000 20th  2008 134,811,000 21st  2009 48,003,000 22nd  2010 7,905,000 23rd  2011 456,000 24th  2012 659,000 25th  2013 554,000 26th  2014 124,013,000 27th  2015 82,004,000 28th  2016 574,000 29th  2017 477,000 30th  2018 440,000 31st  2019 566,000===Reiwa===The following are circulation dates in the reign of the current Emperor. Naruhito acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1, 2019 and he was formally enthroned on October 22, 2019.Coins for this period all begin with the kanji characters 令和 (Reiwa). The inaugural year coin (2019) was marked 元 (first) and debuted during the summer of that year. One yen coins have not been minted for circulation since 2015.Those that are minted are intended for collectors who purchase them from the Japan Mint at a premium.These coins are read from left to right::Emperor's name → Number representing year of reign → Year (e.g. 令和 → 元 → 年). Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage 1st 元 2019 502,000 2nd 二 2020 528,000 3rd  2021 845,000 4th  2022 574,000 5th  2023 463,000 6th  2024 TBD
Collecting The value of any given coin is determined by survivability rate and condition as collectors in general prefer uncleaned appealing coins. One-yen coins are broken down into those struck in a gold alloy, and those struck in a silver alloy. Gold one-yen coins dated 1871 (year 4 of Meiji) are the most abundant as they have a mintage of almost 2 million coins. Two varieties were made this year that feature a "high" or "low" dot. Of these two, 1871 "low dot" coins are valued more compared to their "high dot" counterparts. Outside of this first year of issue, The Numismatist describes one-yen gold coins dated 1874 as "very rare" and the rest (1876 to 1892) as "extremely rare". One-yen gold coins dated 1880 (year 13) were never intended for circulation as they were part of presentation sets. It's now estimated that only 4 to 5 examples survived out of their original mintage of 112, one of which sold at auction in 2011 for $97,750 (USD).Silver one-yen coins were minted for a longer duration which is almost entirely confined to the Meiji era. Coins dated 1870 (year 3 of Meiji) were struck in 1871 and feature at least 3 varieties when it comes to strokes in the old character for yen (圓). This first year of issue is now "rare" in any grade as many became worn from circulation or were chop-marked by merchants. The next few years of minting from 1874 to 1878 (year 7, 8, and 11) to  saw a drop off in mintage numbers. In terms of rarity coins dated 1875 (year 8 of Meiji) are the rarest with just over 130,000 coins struck. These have a catalog value of over $5,000 (USD) in VF (very fine) condition. The legal tender status of one-yen silver coins for domestic use came to an end on July 31, 1898.All of the silver one-yen coins minted from 1871 to 1897 were subsequently kept away by the public, melted down by the Japanese government to provide bullion for subsidiary coins, or were countermarked "Gin" for use in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, Korea, and Lüshunkou. There are a few dates; 1901 (year 34), 1902 (year 35), and 1908 (year 41) which have mintages below a million that are worth a premium.Counterfeiters have since taken advantage of collectors by targeting one-yen silver coins both rare and common. According to Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, Meiji era one-yen silver coins are "usually well struck with sharp details". Counterfeits on the other hand tend to have "details that are less sharp and more rounded". Dates targeted include 1870 (year 3), which is on NGC's top 25 list of most commonly found counterfeited world coins. Other cases include one in 2015 where a far more common 1891 (Meiji 24) date was deemed fake by ANACS. Counterfeiters do their best to seize upon any opportunity they can to make money. More commonly found dates are included as some collectors may let their guard down around them. Careful buying, and seeking authentication from grading services is recommended.
Notes
References
External links *  Circulating coin list -Japan Mint.