Hello coin people,

I have a Japanese 1 Sen coin from 1939 (Y #56). SCWC lists prices for a Type A and a Type B, but fails to describe the difference between the two types. Can any of you describe the difference?

Thanks,

Bruce Broker
Madison, WI

If I am not mistaken, 1939 represents Showa 14, and that is where variety exists. The character of the letter "four" is what matters. One of which is whether the internal "ticks" are touching the box, or in the other case, not.

I am not too sure which is the rarer one though.

gx is correct. my older 1996 edition does show sketches of both types.

[attachmentid=1191]

Good to know! I have the '96 also. I will have to remember to look in there if I cannot find something in the new '06. There might be more info like that hiding in there! Thanks kuhli!

Funny though, I am not actively collecting Japanese coins and I should!!! Eagleeye is leading pretty well Actually for me.

Both Krause and the Japanese Numismatic Dealers Association 2006 catalog lump both varieties together as having a mintage of 444,602,146, but the value difference strongly implies that Type A has the smaller total. Heavily circulated they are listed by the JNDA at ¥30 (~25¢) for Type B and ¥500 (~$4.21) for Type A, going up to ¥500 and ¥5,000 (~$42.13) respectively for Unc.