NumisBids
  
Stephen Album Rare Coins
Auction 39  21-25 Jan 2021
View prices realized

Lot 3170

Starting price: 40 USD
Price realized: 140 USD
Find similar lots
Share this lot: Share by Email
CHOPMARKED COINS: JAPAN: Meiji, 1868-1912, AR yen, year 29 (1896), Y-28a.5, some oxidation, countermark gin right of 1 yen (applied upside down!) and multiple large chopmarks on reverse, VF. In October 1897, Japan revalued the gold yen, and changed from a combination silver/gold standard to an exclusively gold standard. For the next six months silver yen were exchangeable for gold. Part of the demonetized silver coins were melted for use in minting subsidiary coins, and the rest were shipped to Taiwan for use as bullion silver. Before being exported, they were countermarked with the character for silver (gin), in a circle, to prevent them from being returned to Japan for another shot at exchange for gold. The gin countermark appears in a specific position - to the left or right of the ichi (one) character on the reverse. Krause states as a fact (which many Japanese authorities are less certain about) that the main Mint at Osaka applied the mark on the left side, and the subsidiary Tokyo Mint applied it to the right.

Estimate: 50-70 USD
Question about this auction? Contact Stephen Album Rare Coins