The was a Japanese coin worth one two-hundredth of a

Japanese yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the ...

, as 5 ''rin'' equalled sen, and 100 sen equaled 1 yen. These coins were a successor to the equally valued half sen coin which was previously minted until 1888. Overall, the history of the five rin coin is brief as they were only minted from 1916 to 1919 before being devalued monetarily. They were later demonetized by the end of 1953 and are now widely available for collectors.

History

Five rin coins are first mentioned in new coinage laws that were passed in 1897 when Japan officially switched to the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from th ...

. These coins are a successor in terms of value to the previously issued half sen coin which had been made from 1873 to 1888. Initially the quality of this new "five rin" coin was set in a similar bronze alloy consisting of 95% copper, and 5% tin and zinc. However, only patterns were struck towards the end of

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

's reign as the urgent task at the time was to manufacture gold and silver coins in accordance with the new law. Five rin coins were eventually minted for circulation in 1916 during the 5th year of

Emperor Taishō was the 123rd Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and the second ruler of the Empire of Japan from 30 July 1912 until his death in 1926. The Emperor's personal name was . According to Japanese custom, while reigni ...

's reign in response to rising inflation caused by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

which led to an overall shortage of subsidiary coins. By this time, the "five rin" coin had been reduced in diameter from the size of a half sen (21.8mm) down to 18.78mm and weighed over a gram less. Their mintage period was brief as five rin coins were discontinued after only four years of production due to their sharp decline in monetary value. The overall demand for subsidiary coinage had ended as Japan slipped into a post-war recession. Five rin coins were eventually taken out of circulation at the end of 1953 and demonetized. The Japanese government passed a new law during this time that abolished subsidiary coinage in favor of the yen. Five rin coins are now easily obtainable in circulated grades. This is due to a large amount of surviving coins that were kept by the public either as

souvenirs A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a ...

or from unused accumulation.

Circulation figures

Taishō

The following are circulation figures for the ''five rin coin'', all of which were minted between the 5th and 8th year of Taishō's reign. The dates all begin with the Japanese symbol 大正 (Taishō), followed by the year of his reign the coin was minted. Each coin is read

clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...

from right to left, so in the example used below "五" would read as "year 5" or 1916. :"Year" ← "Number representing year of reign" ← "Emperor's name" (Ex: 年 ← 五 ← 正大)

References

Coins of Japan Japanese sen Five-base-unit coins {{coin-stub