anyone good with japaneese coins?

[7th_Sephiroth]

i have one, bout the size and weight of a quarter, balding man with a moustache on the front and what appears to be a map of one of the islands on the back, colored like an arcade token

[derby378]

1. Doesn't sound familiar

If you could upload a picture, maybe that would help. Is there a Roman numeral anywhere on the coin?

[7th_Sephiroth]

2. no numerals, no identifiable date

looks pre or during ww2 just by going by quality

[7th_Sephiroth]

7. above the head

a charater the numbers 3 10 and 4 than 4 more charaters and below a symbol the numbers 10 2, the charater for moon (i think) than the number 5

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. That's not Japanese, as far as I know.

The only Japanese coin I've seen that's equivalent in size/weight to a quarter is the 10-yen coin, and it's bronze/copper. (I had an awful lot of them, and I used to use them in vending machines in place of quarters...)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. The 100 yen coin is silver-colored and is about the size of a quarter

but it has a chrysanthemum symbol on the back.

[7th_Sephiroth]

6. no its definately an island

long thin, but bulky looking with 2 islands off to the south east

[7th_Sephiroth]

5. thats not it

my japaneese is bad but i think i can read the number 12 on it

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. I just took out my motley collection of Japanese and Taiwanese coins

left over from trips.

All the Japanese coins have Arabic numerals on them.

The Taiwanese coins have Chiang Kai-shek on the front and Chinese characters on the back.(They're from 1985).

I used to have some mainland Chinese coins, but I gave them to my nephews.

Of course, in all cases, I'm talking about modern or nearly modern coins. I don't know about historic ones.

[7th_Sephiroth]

9. as stated before i think this coin is from

ww2 or earlier, but at earliest would be Meiji Eara because of the way the coin was minted, also look at my post before this one (second reply to the first) i have some numbers off the face and i think a date, but my knowledge of japaneese writing and date is just about nil

[7th_Sephiroth]

10. as stated before i think this coin is from

ww2 or earlier, but at earliest would be Meiji Eara because of the way the coin was minted, also look at my post before this one (second reply to the first) i have some numbers off the face and i think a date, but my knowledge of japaneese writing and date is just about nil

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. A photo would really help

because I can read the kanji.

[7th_Sephiroth]

14. i have no way of getting a picture

sorry

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. Japanese coinage was decimalised under Emperor Meiji...

so it's either not "12" or not Japanese...unless the "12" is the date (12 Meiji, 12 Showa, etc...)

[7th_Sephiroth]

12. its the charater for 10 and then 2 (like i said, my hapaneese is HORRIBLE)

the charater for moon and the number 5, i think its a date

[Spider Jerusalem]

15. Also, the fact that it has a portrait on one side...

makes it sound almost certainly NOT Japanese...I've never seen a Japanese coin, old or new, with a portrait. Chrysanthemums, pagodas, and so on, but NEVER a person.

[7th_Sephiroth]

16. yeah, freaks me out

do the japanese share a numerical charature system with anyone, cause i found an online chart of japaneese numbers 1-10 and they match up

[Spider Jerusalem]

17. Yes...the Chinese use the same characters for numerals...

[7th_Sephiroth]

18. could be chinese

like i said, not sure

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. Or maybe Taiwanese.

The islands on the reverse (numismatic terminology; the side with the portrait is the obverse) make it sound more likely to be Taiwanese.

[7th_Sephiroth]

20. yeah, taiwan, it diddent even come to mind honestly

but i still cant find a picture of the coin

[Spider Jerusalem]

21. Is this it?

(That's Chiang Kai-Shek, by the way)

[7th_Sephiroth]

23. close

slightly larger coin and the face on it is of an older man thatd just bald on top, not sides, and the coin is a different alloy, with a border around the edge

[MisterP]

22. is the island potato-shaped? if so, it's definitely Taiwanese

[7th_Sephiroth]

24. yeah. but now i wana know

who's on it? whats it worth?

[MisterP]

25. the bald man is Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese Revolution

relatively liberal, died before the Revolution became the Civil War. The Nationalists (Guomindang) officially revere him, although now they're conservative thanks to Chiang Kai-shek's purges.
What color is it and what's the diameter in millimeters (the last question isn't as urgent).
I have a Taiwanese 5-jiao piece from 1955 (they don't use Gregorian dates); they're worth $1 tops, I believe. I just collect coins for their appearance.

[7th_Sephiroth]

26. are you sure

its an old man, only partially bald, and the color is that really dull mustard yellow and its slightly larger than a canadian quarter

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. Partially bald?

Could that be Chairman Mao?

[7th_Sephiroth]

28. no

i mean partally bald like Patric Stewart