The 10,000 yen coin is a denomination of the
Japanese yen, and is only used for the issue of commemorative coins struck by the
Japan Mint
The is an Independent Administrative Institution of the Japanese government, responsible for producing and circulating the coins of Japan. The agency has its head office in Osaka with branches in Saitama and Hiroshima. The Japan Mint does not ...
. 10,000 yen coins were first issued in the mid/late 1980s in
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
but were later switched to
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
. These non consecutive commemorative gold coins have been released ever since to collectors.
History
The first 10,000 yen coin was minted in 1986 as a silver commemorative to mark the 60th year of the enthronement of the
Shōwa Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
,
Hirohito. Gold has been used to strike these coins in
proof only format since 1997 when they were first issued for the
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...
in
Nagano Nagano may refer to:
Places
* Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan
** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture
*** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics
*** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano
*** Nagano Universi ...
. The weight and size of each coin varies by commemorative as both 15.6g (26mm) and 20.0g (28 - 35mm) have been used.
List of commemoratives
Notes
References
External links
Commemorative coin list-
Japan Mint
The is an Independent Administrative Institution of the Japanese government, responsible for producing and circulating the coins of Japan. The agency has its head office in Osaka with branches in Saitama and Hiroshima. The Japan Mint does not ...
website (In English)
{{Japanese currency and coinage
Japanese yen coins
Commemorative coins of Japan