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Appearance
One of the first issue of coins for the Japanese yen. This coin was introduced in 1870 as part of the Meiji government's modernization program, replacing the Tokugawa coinage with silver 5-, 10-, 20- and 50-sen and 1-yen pieces, as well as gold 2-, 5-, 10- and 20-yen pieces. The 20 gold yen contained (on average) 33.33 grams of gold (0.9000 fine) and weighed 0.9645 ounces.Coin: Empire of Japan (image courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History)