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
Value	5 Japanese yen
Mass	3.75 g
Diameter	22 mm
Center hole diameter	5 mm
Composition	c. 65% Cu c. 35% Zn
Years of minting	1870–present
Catalog number	KM 72, 72a, 96.1 and 96.2
Obverse
Design	Rice, water and gear
Design date	1959
Reverse
Design	Tree sprouts
Design date	1959

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 ${\displaystyle {}^{65}{\rm {Zn}}}$ 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
1870–1930	90% gold, 10% copper
1948–present	65% 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 Emeritus. 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".

External links

• The front sides of two five yen coins.