10 Yen - Meiji

The Meiji government introduced this coin as part of Japan's sweeping 1871 New Currency Act, which abolished the chaotic han-issued currency system and pegged the new yen to a decimal standard — a deliberate alignment with Western monetary practice driven largely by Finance Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu. The Osaka Mint itself had only opened that same year, built with British machinery and supervised by British engineers contracted specifically to bring Japan's coinage up to international commercial standards.

Production dropped sharply after 1877 as gold drained from circulation into hoarding following the Satsuma Rebellion's economic disruptions. By 1892, the type was effectively retired ahead of Japan's formal adoption of the gold standard in 1897.