1 Sen of Japan (1874), Meiji Year 7

[Numii_Anglii]

1 Sen of Japan (1874), Meiji Year 7. Grade? VF/XF?? Traces of lustre..

Another beautiful example of Japanese numismatic art  Please comment, rate, grade etc!...

[andyg]

1 Sen of Japan (1873), Meiji Year 6. Grade? VF/XF?? Traces of lustre..

Another beautiful example of Japanese numismatic art  Please comment, rate, grade etc!...

This one is 1874....

[translateltd]

You mentioned not being able to make out some of the text.  The characters at the top of the "denomination" side read "ONE HUNDRED PIECES MAKE ONE YEN" in Classical Japanese.  Japan had just adopted decimal currency a few years earlier so this was probably intended as a handy guide.  I believe only the 1 and 2-sen coins carried such inscriptions, though - nothing on the silver coins or the bronze 1-rin (1/1000 yen).

[Figleaf]

Even after a prolonged stare, I couldn't figure out the dragon. Too many ends. Yes, I know it's a classical design and people liked it because they were familiar with it, but two of the legs seem only connected to each other...

I like these enlargements for bringing out detail. Maybe some experimenting with colour correction would yield even better results, though.

There are some Dutch coins with similar notes, 100 c. on the Gulden and 250 c. on the rijksdaalder. A good reminder of how even a drastic simplification must be explained to be accepted.

Peter