Pattern coinage from the Osaka Mint in this period reflects Japan's systematic search for a cheaper alloy as silver costs climbed through the early 1930s. The 10 Sen denomination had been struck in silver since the Meiji period, but mounting pressures — military expenditure, the aftermath of the 1927 banking crisis, and global silver market volatility — pushed the mint toward nickel trials. This specific pattern preceded the official nickel 10 Sen introduced in 1933, making it part of the working experimental sequence rather than a presentation piece.
KM# Pn102 is one of several nickel pattern strikes recorded from that transitional year.
Pattern coinage from the Osaka Mint in this period reflects Japan's systematic search for a cheaper alloy as silver costs climbed through the early 1930s. The 10 Sen denomination had been struck in silver since the Meiji period, but mounting pressures — military expenditure, the aftermath of the 1927 banking crisis, and global silver market volatility — pushed the mint toward nickel trials. This specific pattern preceded the official nickel 10 Sen introduced in 1933, making it part of the working experimental sequence rather than a presentation piece.
KM# Pn102 is one of several nickel pattern strikes recorded from that transitional year.