Fifty sen coins were first minted in 1870 during the reign of the Meiji emperor. The New Currency Act of 1871 stipulated the adoption of the decimal accounting system of yen, sen, and rin, with the coins being round and manufactured using Westernmachinery. Although mintages numbered in the hundreds of thousands, it was reported in 1904 that fifty sen coins were not commonly seen in circulation. Production of silver coins stopped in 1938, and the coins were replaced by brass ones starting in 1946. The final fifty-sen coins were produced two years later, and the coin was eventually taken out of circulation at the end of 1953.
The following are circulation figures for the coins that were minted between the 3rd, and the 45th and last year of Meiji's reign. Coins for this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 明治. Fifty sen pieces that were minted between 1874 and 1877, and in 1880, are considered key date coins with a value in the thousands of US dollars. Early silver fifty sen coins have often been counterfeited, so grading by an expert is recommended for collectors.
Inscriptions on Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left:
"Year" ← "Number representing year of reign" ← "Emperor's name"
Year of reign
Japanese date
Gregorian date
Mintage
3rd
三
1870
4th
四
1871
4th
四
1871 (19mm circle
6th
六
1873
7th
七
1874
8th
八
1875
109
9th
九
1876
10th
十
1877
13th
三十
1880
179
18th
八十
1885
30th
十三
1897
31st
一十三
1898
32nd
二十三
1899
33rd
三十三
1900
34th
四十三
1901
35th
五十三
1902
36th
六十三
1903
37th
七十三
1904
38th
八十三
1905
39th
九十三
1906
40th
十四
1907
41st
一十四
1908
42nd
二十四
1909
43rd
三十四
1910
44th
四十四
1911
45th
五十四
1912
Taishō
The following are circulation figures for the coins that were minted between the 1st and the 15th year of Taishō's reign. Coins from this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 大正.
Inscriptions on Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left:
Year of reign
Japanese date
Gregorian date
Mintage
1st
元
1912
1,928,649
2nd
二
1913
5,910,063
3rd
三
1914
1,872,331
4th
四
1915
2,011,253
5th
五
1916
8,736,768
6th
六
1917
9,963,232
11th
一十
1922
76,320,000
12th
二十
1923
185,180,000
13th
三十
1924
78,520,000
14th
四十
1925
47,808,000
15th
五十
1926
32,572,000
Shōwa
The following are circulation figures for coins minted between the 3rd and the 23rd year of Emperor Shōwa's reign. Coins from this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 昭和.
Inscriptions on Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left:
