Half sen coin


The half sen coin was a Japanese coin worth one two-hundredth of a Japanese yen, as 100 sen equalled 1 yen. All half sen coins were minted during the Meiji period, and are made from nearly pure copper. Two different varieties exist for the half sen coin in regard to the dragon featured on the reverse side of the coin. One variety has "V scales", while the other design shows "square scales" with the latter being more scarce. Regular production of the half sen coin ceased in 1888, it was later replaced for a brief time by another coin with the same value in the late 1910s.

Circulation figures

Meiji
The following are circulation figures for the half sen coin, all of which were minted between the 3rd, and 21st year of Meiji's reign. The dates all begin with the Japanese symbol 明治, followed by the year of his reign the coin was minted. Each coin is read clockwise from right to left, so in the example used below "二十" would read as "year 12" or 1879. Half sen coins with "V" scales are common, and can usually be obtained for under $20 in circulated condition. Exceptions to this are coins minted in 1877 with square scales. Additional coins were made in 1892, but these were not released for circulation making them very rare today. The mintage figures shown on the table are in thousands of coins.
Year of reignJapanese dateGregorian dateMintage
6th六1873
7th七1874
8th八1875
9th九1876
10th十1877
12th二十1879
13th三十1880
14th四十1881
15th五十1882
16th六十1883
17th七十1884
18th八十1885
19th九十1886
20th十二1887
21st一十二1888
25th五十二1892Not circulated