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Representative transition issue

Early Meiji Gold 20 Yen

The large twenty-yen gold coin is a leading representative of the initial old-gold design family.

旧二十円金貨

Obverse of an early Meiji twenty-yen gold coin Reverse of an early Meiji twenty-yen gold coin
As6673 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · exact denomination representative
Date
明治三年 (1870)
Denomination
20 Yen
Form
round
Local status
Published

Context

Historical and monetary setting

Its early date and dragon design connect legal decimalization to modern Osaka mint production.

Identification

How to classify the evidence

Check era characters, dragon, imperial and wreath devices, edge, mass, diameter, and die diagnostics.

Evidence boundary

What this page does not claim

The representative image does not authorize price, rarity, or mintage claims.

Issue evidence

Specifications and date record

Display date
明治三年 (1870)
Mass
Catalog fineness
90%
Edge
verify by subtype
Image status
cleared exact dated representative
Identity confidence
high

Era-date rule: Meiji 3 is stored separately from Gregorian 1870; Meiji gannen is 1868.

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Related transition references

Evidence

Sources and scope

These links support the claims on this page. Source authority does not imply permission to republish source images.

Early Meiji coin display records Bank of Japan Currency Museum

Identification of early gold, silver, trade, rin, and sen coinage.

Open source
150 Years of the Japan Mint Japan Mint

Osaka mint establishment, modern machinery, institutional history, and coin standards.

Open source