Half sen coin

Half sen coins along with twelve other denominations were adopted by the Meiji government in an act signed on June 27, 1871.

[4] This new coinage gave Japan a western style decimal system which was based on units of yen, sen, and rin.

Circulating coins were officially minted starting in 1873 (year 6) with a newly adopted design which eliminated a sunburst previously used on the reverse.

Half 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.

An exception includes coins dated 1877 (year 10) with square scales, as this rare variety is worth a premium amount.