10 sen coin
former Japanese coin
The 10 sen coin (十銭硬貨) was a Japanese coin worth one tenth of a Japanese yen, as 100 sen equalled 1 yen. These coins were minted from the late 19th century up until the end of World War II.
History
Meiji coinage (1870–1912)
Ten sen coins were first struck towards the end of 1870 (year 3 of Meiji) from a newly established mint at Osaka. 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. Authorization was given to strike ten sen coins in .800 silver, weighs 38.6 grains (2.5g), and has a 18.28mm diameter (0.72 in). 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. 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. While dated 1870 (year 3), these first year ten sen coins were not released into circulation until the following year (1871). During this time, the coins along with twelve other denominations were adopted by the Meiji government in an act signed on June 27, 1871. 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. Ten sen coins were set as legal tender only up to the amount of 10 yen which was fixed by government regulations.
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This entry incorporates text from “10 sen coin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.