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5 Yen - Shōwa Kaisho style
| Issuer | Japanese Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949-1958 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | Y#72, JNDA#02-11, Schön#49 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 日本國 昭和二十六年 (Translation: State of Japan Year 26 of Shōwa) |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Japan's postwar occupation authorities initially resisted a brass 5-yen coin, preferring to keep denominations small and material cheap. The design compromise that emerged in 1949 used the kaisho script style — a more formal, block-character rendering — which distinguishes this entire run from the cursive reisho script adopted in 1959. That typographic shift is the sole diagnostic between two otherwise nearly identical series, and misattribution in dealer lots is genuinely common.
The 1949 and 1950 issues account for the bulk of surviving examples. Later dates in the run, particularly 1957 and 1958, carry lower mintages and are consistently undervalued relative to their actual scarcity.