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1 Yen Japanese serial
| Issuer | Bank of Japan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 145 × 85 mm |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in orange on a plain cream ground, the reverse centres on a large circular guilloche vignette at left reproducing a one-yen silver coin in fine lathe-work detail, with the letters ONE and YEN inscribed vertically at left and right of the coin within an ornate scalloped border. To the right, the issuer name NIPPON GINKO is set in bold serif type above a three-line promise-to-pay legend in copperplate script reading Promises to Pay the Bearer on Demand One Yen in Silver. Two circular red seal impressions appear in the lower centre and lower right. |
| Reverse lettering | ONE 一 圓 YEN NIPPON GINKO Promises to Pay the Bearer on Demand One Yen in Silver (Translation: One yen Bank of Japan) |
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| Comments |
Pick 26 belongs to the second series of Bank of Japan convertible notes — convertible, in theory, into silver. The 1889 Convertible Silver Notes were issued under the Bank of Japan Act framework that had been in place since 1882, but the silver convertibility guarantee was effectively suspended during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 and never meaningfully restored thereafter. Notes already in circulation simply continued as inconvertible paper.
Printed entirely domestically by the Ministry of Finance's own bureau, this series marks Japan's deliberate move away from reliance on foreign printers — a policy choice rooted in Meiji-era industrialization priorities as much as in security concerns.