5 yen coin

The 5 yen coin (五円硬貨, Go-en kōka) is one denomination of Japanese yen. The current design was first minted in 1959 using Japanese characters known as the "new script", and were also minted from 1948–1958 using "old-script" Japanese characters. Five-yen coins date to 1870 (when, due to the much higher value of the yen, they were minted in gold). The modern-day coin was first produced in 1948 with a different styled inscription. This was changed in 1959 and the design has remained unchanged since.

Five yen
Japan
Value5 Japanese yen
Mass3.75 g
Diameter22 mm
Center hole diameter5 mm
Compositionc. 65% Cu
c. 35% Zn
Years of minting1870–present
Catalog numberKM 72, 72a, 96.1 and 96.2
Obverse
DesignRice, water and gear
Design date1959
Reverse
DesignTree sprouts
Design date1959

The front of the coin depicts a rice plant growing out of the water, with "five yen" written in kanji; the back is stamped with "Japan" and the year of issue, also in kanji, separated by sprouts of a tree. The three graphic elements of the coin represent agriculture and fisheries, the key elements of the Japanese first-sector economy. Around a hole, there is a gear that represents industry. It is the only Japanese coin in circulation to lack Hindu-Arabic numerals on either face.

Cultural significance

The Japanese for "five yen," go en (五円) is a homophone with go-en (御縁), "en" being a word for causal connection or relationship, and "go" being a respectful prefix. As a result, five-yen coins are commonly given as donations at Shinto shrines with the intention of establishing a good connection with the deity of the shrine, and is widely believed it is best to insert a single five-yen coin into a new wallet before inserting any other money.

Use in nuclear accident investigation
See also: Neutron activation and Depleted zinc oxide

Following the nuclear accident at Tokai, Ibaraki in 1999, physicists Masuchika Kohno and Yoshinobu Koizumi showed how this coin could be used to estimate neutron dosage to the surrounding population, by measuring its zinc isotope ratios. They write:

The Japanese 5-yen coin is about 22 millimeters in diameter and 1.5 mm thick, weighs 3.75 grams and has a central hole 5 mm wide. We chose this coin for monitoring neutron exposure because it is widely circulated, the zinc content is precisely controlled, and the generated has a convenient half-life (244.1 days) and gamma ray energy emission (1,115.5 keV). To obtain a record of the dosage of neutrons released as a result of the accident, we collected exposed coins from people's houses at distances 100–550 m from the facility.[1]

They concluded that the coin could offer information about the total neutron effect during the accident, and about shielding by modern Japanese houses, given that the coins were recovered from indoors.

Composition
Years Material
1870–193090% gold, 10% copper
1948–present65% copper, 35% zinc

Circulation figures

Meiji
5 yen coin from 1870 (year 3)
Design 1 - (1870–1871)
5 yen coin from 1872 (year 5)
Design 2 - (1872–1897)
5 yen coin from 1897 (year 30)
Design 3 - (1897–1930[lower-alpha 1])

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 (Meiji). One yen trade dollars and/or patterns are not included here.

  • Inscriptions on Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left:

"Year" ← "Number representing year of reign" ← "Emperor's name" (Ex: 年 ← 五十三 ← 治明)

Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage
03 3rd 三 1870 273,536[2]
04 4th 四 1871 00 Unknown[2]
05 5th 五 1872 1,057,628[3]
06 6th 六 1873 3,148,925[3]
07 7th 七 1874 728,082[3]
08 8th 八 1875 181,728[3]
09 9th 九 1876 146,226[3]
10th 十 1877 136,271[3]
11th 一十 1878 101,198[3]
13th 三十 1880 78,704[3]
14th 四十 1881 149,249[3]
15th 五十 1882 113,015[3]
16th 六十 1883 108,746[3]
17th 七十 1884 113,768[3]
18th 八十 1885 200,607[3]
19th 九十 1886 179,849[3]
20th 十二 1887 179,303[3]
21st 一十二 1888 165,794[3]
22nd 二十二 1889 353,914[3]
23rd 三十二 1890 238,076[3]
24th 四十二 1891 216,089[3]
25th 五十二 1892 263,103[3]
26th 六十二 1893 260,424[3]
27th 七十二 1894 314,337[3]
28th 八十二 1895 320,090[3]
29th 九十二 1896 224,325[3]
30th 十三 1897 (Type 1) 107,352[3]
30th 十三 1897 (Type 2)[lower-alpha 2] 111,776[4]
31st 一十三 1898 55,888[4]
36th 六十三 1903 21,956[4]
44th 四十四 1911 59,880[4]
45th 五十四 1912 59,880[4]

Taishō

The following are circulation figures for the coins that were minted during the 2nd and 13th year of Taishō's reign. Coins from this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 大正 (Taishō).

  • Inscriptions on Japanese coins from this period are read clockwise from right to left:
"Year" ← "Number representing year of reign" ← "Emperor's name" (Ex: 年 ← 三十 ← 正大)
Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage
2nd 二 1913 89,820[5]
13th 三十 1924 76,037[5]

Shōwa
5 yen coin from 1948 (year 23)
Design 1 - (1948–1949)
5 yen coin from 1949 (year 24)
Design 2 - (1949–1958)
5 yen coin from 1959 (year 34)
Design 3 - (1959–present)
Closeup of the "Old script" design
(Pre-1959)

The following are circulation dates which cover Emperor Hirohito's reign. The dates below correspond with the 23rd to the 64th year (last) of his reign. All five yen coins that were made before 1959 use kyūjitai, or old script Japanese. In 1949 only, two different styles of writing were used before a more modern one was established in 1950. This second style of writing was used until 1958 when the current script of Japanese took its place in the following year. Coins for this period will all begin with the Japanese symbol 昭和 (Shōwa).

  • Japanese coins are read with a left to right format:
"Emperor's name" → "Number representing year of reign" → "Year" (Ex: 昭和 → 四十八 → 年).
Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage[6][7][lower-alpha 3]
05 5th 五 1930 (Gold) 852,563[lower-alpha 4]
23rd 二十三 1948 74,520,000
24th 二十四 1949 (Type 1) 179,692,000
24th 二十四 1949 (Type 2)[lower-alpha 5] 111,896,000
25th 二十五 1950 181,824,000
26th 二十六 1951 197,980,000
27th 二十七 1952 55,000,000
28th 二十八 1953 45,000,000
32nd 三十二 1957 10,000,000
33rd 三十三 1958 (Old script) 50,000,000
34th 三十四 1959 (New script) 33,000,000
35th 三十五 1960 34,800,000
36th 三十六 1961 61,000,000
37th 三十七 1962 126,700,000
38th 三十八 1963 171,800,000
39th 三十九 1964 379,700,000
40th 四十 1965 384,200,000
41st 四十一 1966 163,100,000
42nd 四十二 1967 26,000,000
43rd 四十三 1968 114,000,000
44th 四十四 1969 240,000,000
45th 四十五 1970 340,000,000
46th 四十六 1971 362,050,000
47th 四十七 1972 562,950,000
48th 四十八 1973 745,000,000
49th 四十九 1974 950,000,000
50th 五十 1975 970,000,000
51st 五十一 1976 200,000,000
52nd 五十二 1977 340,000,000
53rd 五十三 1978 318,000,000
54th 五十四 1979 317,000,000
55th 五十五 1980 385,000,000
56th 五十六 1981 95,000,000
57th 五十七 1982 455,000,000
58th 五十八 1983 410,000,000
59th 五十九 1984 202,850,000
60th 六十 1985 153,150,000
61st 六十一 1986 113,960,000
62nd 六十二 1987 631,775,000
63rd 六十三 1988 396,120,000
64th 六十四 1989 67,332,000

Heisei
Heisei 5 yen coin from 2005 (year 17)

The following are circulation dates in the reign of the current Emperor. Akihito was crowned in 1989, which is marked with a 元 symbol on the coin as a one year type. Coins for this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 平成 (Heisei).

  • Japanese coins are read with a left to right format:
"Emperors name" → "Number representing year of reign" → "Year" (Ex: 平成 → 二十六 → 年).
Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage [6][lower-alpha 3]
1st 元 1989 960,660,000
2nd 二 1990 520,953,000
3rd 三 1991 517,120,000
4th 四 1992 301,130,000
5th 五 1993 413,240,000
6th 六 1994 197,767,000
7th 七 1995 351,874,000
8th 八 1996 207,213,000
9th 九 1997 239,086,000
10th 十 1998 172,612,000
11th 十一 1999 60,120,000
12th 十二 2000 9,030,000
13th 十三 2001 78,025,000
14th 十四 2002 143,662,000
15th 十五 2003 102,406,000
16th 十六 2004 70,903,000
17th 十七 2005 16,029,000
18th 十八 2006 9,594,000
19th 十九 2007 9,904,000
20th 二十 2008 9,811,000
21st 二十一 2009 4,003,000
22nd 二十二 2010 510,000
23rd 二十三 2011 456,000
24th 二十四 2012 659,000
25th 二十五 2013 554,000
26th 二十六 2014 87,538,000
27th 二十七 2015 105,004,000
28th 二十八 2016 35,064,000
29th 二十九 2017 33,927,000
30th 三十 2018 17,960,000
31st 三十一 2019 16,946,000

Reiwa

The following are circulation dates in the reign of the current Emperor. Naruhito's accession to the Crysanthemum Throne took place on May 1, 2019 and he was formally enthroned on October 22, 2019. Coins for this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 令和 (Reiwa). The inaugural year coin (2019) was marked 元 (first) and debuted during the summer of that year.[8]

Year of reign Japanese date Gregorian date Mintage[6][lower-alpha 3]
1st 元 2019 20,574,000
2nd 二 2020 TBD

Notes
  1. The third and final gold coin design was also used during Taishō, and Shōwa's reign.
  2. Two coin designs were made in 1897, the second type is smaller as the weight was changed from 8.3 to 4.2 grams
  3. Mintages on the Japan Mint website are in thousands
  4. Many of these 1930 dated gold coins were possibly melted or destroyed during World War II
  5. Two coin designs were made in 1949, the second type resembles the current one in use today.

References
  1. Kohno, Masuchika; and Yoshinobu Koizumi (2000). "Tokaimura accident: Neutron dose estimates from 5-yen coins". Nature. 406 (6797): 693. doi:10.1038/35021138. PMID 10963586.
  2. "Japan 5 Yen Y# 11". Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  3. "Japan 5 Yen Y# 11a". Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  4. "Japan 5 Yen Y# 32". Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  5. "Japan 5 Yen Y# 39". Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  6. "年銘別貨幣製造枚数" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Mint. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  7. "Japan 5 Yen Y# 51". Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  8. "Reiwa coins to debut summer 2019".
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