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1871 Japanese 1 Yen gold:




Purchased 10/10/2017 for $258

Maybe a bit more than I should have paid, but this is the fourth year of Meiji, which is the first year this
coin was minted. It's in good condition with only mild circulation wear, and is one of the oldest coins I own.
The metal is a circulation-grade (0.900) alloy of course, and 150 years have given it a very subtle tone.

I stumbled across this coin less than a month after buying a slabbed 1871 50 yen (simply because it was a
great deal) so running into this was an amazing coincidence.

This might just be the most counterfeited gold coin in the world, and it's very difficult to find a genuine
one not in a graded slab. Gold-plated coins of this design are being manufactured and sold commercially as
novelties, and find their way onto places like eBay all the time. They're being sold at what looks like a
"discount price", usually well below the melt-value for the coin. If it looks uncirculated and isn't in a slab,
it's a fake.



1871 Japanese 1 Yen gold (at Numisma)


Meiji-4 1 yen obverse:


Meiji-4 1 yen reverse:



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