10 sen coin

Ten sen coins were first struck towards the end of 1870 (year 3 of Meiji) from a newly established mint at Osaka.

[2][3] Initially, this process was done by engineers from the United Kingdom as Japan did not have the technology or raw materials to manufacture new coins.

[6][7][a] The first design used is nicknamed rising sun dragon (旭日竜, Asahi Ryu), which had its features engraved by a commission of Japanese artists.

[4] The obverse side features a dragon with an open mouth, while on the reverse there is a paulownia decoration with a sunburst in the center, and the chrysanthemum seal up on top.

[10] This newly adopted coinage gave Japan a western style decimal system based on units of yen, which were broken down into subsidiary currency of sen, and rin.

[11][12] Ten sen coins were set as legal tender only up to the amount of 10 yen which was fixed by government regulations.

[15][21] An amendment to the 1897 coinage act was implemented this year which gave ten, twenty, and fifty sen coins new designs.

[c] The third ten sen design features a wreath on the obverse with the value written in kanji in the center, and a sunburst surrounded by flowers on the opposite side (reverse).

Almost immediately there was a problem during the design transition when the market price of silver exceeded the face value of the ten sen coin.

[27] Ten sen coins dated 1918 to 1922 (year 7 to 11) were produced in silver under this amendment and stored at the Bank of Japan.

[28][32] The chosen design features a chrysanthemum seal, and a bouquet of paulownia flowers on the obverse, while the reverse side uses Qinghai waves.

[31][32] Ten sen copper nickel coins were eventually produced in large amounts which peaked in 1922 and 1923 (year 11 and 12).

[30] No additional changes regarding ten sen coins were made during the remainder of Emperor Taishō's reign.

The National Mobilization Law was legislated in the Diet of Japan by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on March 24, 1938 to prepare the country for war.

[39] Waves along with a sunburst and chrysanthemum seal were chosen for the obverse, while the reverse features a grooved cherry blossom design with paulownia.

The Japanese government eventually withdrew nickel and copper ten sen coins from circulation in December 1942, and exchanged them for aluminum ones.

[46][43] An announcement by the Japanese government was eventually made in April 1943 regarding plans to replace aluminum coinage with tin.

[47] One of the main reasons for using tin centered around it being relatively easy to obtain from occupied territories in Southeast Asia.

The decision was not made lightly, as tin was a strategic material which is unsuitable for monetary purposes as the metal is soft.

[50][48] The Japanese government issued Ten sen notes as a response when materials could no longer be secured for the coins.

[d] Ten sen coins were brought back into production in December 1945 and were officially enacted on January 26, 1946 (Showa 21) with an aluminum alloy.

[53] The final design employs symbols of Japan with rice ears and the chrysanthemum seal on the obverse, and cherry blossoms on the reverse.

[53] It was mandated at the time by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers that coins read "日本政府" (Nippon-koku, Government of Japan) rather than "大日本" (Dai Nippon, Japanese Empire).

[53] Ten sen coins were eventually demonetized at the end of 1953 when the Japanese government passed a law abolishing subsidiary coinage in favor of the yen.

[71] Production amounts increased afterwards for the remainder of Taishō's reign to redeem 10 sen notes, which left plenty of surviving coins for collectors to obtain.

As the number of existing coins in good condition for 1931 outnumbers those from 1929 (year 4), the latter date is valued more in higher grades.

[30] There is nothing "particularly rare" about the nickel series issued from 1933 to 1937 (year 8 to 12) other than proof strikes which are valued in the hundreds of thousands of yen.

[74] Post-war inflation made coins produced from 1944 to 1946 (year 19 to 21) essentially worthless which gave the public no incentive to cash them in.