5 Sen - Meiji

Japan's 1871 coinage reform was among the most deliberately engineered monetary overhauls of the 19th century. The New Currency Act of that year abolished the chaotic feudal han currency system and introduced a decimal framework modeled partly on the U.S. dollar standard — a direct result of currency adviser Gottfried Wagener's influence and the Meiji government's broader project of rapid Westernization. These earliest Meiji silver sen pieces were struck at the newly established Osaka Mint, which had only opened in April 1871 with equipment and technical staff imported from Hong Kong's Royal Mint.