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No hole, hole, and script

Postwar 5 Yen Transition

Compare the 1948 no-hole Diet Building type, the 1949 holed kaisho-lettered type, and the 1959 modern-script generation.

戦後五円貨幣

Obverse of the Showa 23 (1948) 5 Yen of Japan Reverse of the Showa 23 (1948) 5 Yen of Japan
Monaneko, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; deterministic crop and conversion. · Representative contextual pair
Core routes
20
Issue studies
14
Exact image pairs
15
Indexable routes
0

Context

Historical and monetary setting

Japan Mint records that the no-hole 5 yen was difficult to distinguish from the contemporary brass 1 yen, prompting the 1949 holed redesign. The motif combines rice, water, and a gear.

Identification

How to classify the object

Separate the Diet Building type from the holed agricultural-industrial design, then distinguish kaisho 國 from the later gothic 国 lettering.

Evidence boundary

What this page does not claim

Symbolism follows official design identification; unsupported ideological readings are excluded.

SeriesProductionLegal issueMaterialEdgeSuccessor
No-Hole 5 Yen Brass19481948copperplainjp-p6-series-5-yen-holed-kaisho
Holed 5 Yen Brass, Kaisho Script19491949copperplainjp-current-5-yen-brass

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Related Taisho–Showa references

Evidence

Sources and scope

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

Coin FAQ Japan Mint

Obverse/reverse convention, unissued ceramic status, postwar brass scrap composition, edge changes, and later silver-to-cupronickel transition.

Open source
Regular coins list Ministry of Finance, Japan

Current and older valid 1-, 5-, 10-, 50-, and 100-yen design generations and official dimensions.

Open source
Coins from the Meiji era onward Bank of Japan Currency Museum

Official specifications, first-issue years, legal-expiry dates, wartime and postwar regular types.

Open source