I was at the store buying some things and pulled out some change. As I was handing out the changed I noticed one of my 10 yen coins was not like another. (My Sock’s eyes are 10 yen coins.) I looked at it and it said 50 SEN on it. I wondered where I got it.
For those who are ignorant, V and B, the sen was 100 to 1 yen. In the old days the yen was paper and the sen was a coin. Now the yen are coins up to 500 and paper after a 1000. There are no sen coins in circulation now. So I have a half a yen coin which would make it less than a penny.
I looked it up online and my coin is traded for 100 yen by collectors.
The coin is interesting because the Japanese goes from right to left. After the war the writing went from left to right like English. 50 sen is written 銭十五 instead of the modern 五十銭.
Japanese Lesson 銭湯– Sentou is the name for the public baths. It comes from the word sen and hot water. Maybe at one time the bath was that price.
What happen to the love of money?
It became the root of all evil.
Isn’t it the route of all evil?
I think that’s state route 666 here; my Dad referred to it as “the Devil’s highway” :-) Interesting article, Titheness.
So now you’re rich beyond your wildest (sock) dreams. ?How you going to spend all that money. ?Retire.
Invest it in Socks and Blondes.
**
A well-heeled Sock.
I think of myself as a hi-heeled Sock keeping instep with the times.
Interesting!
I did not know that the direction of the writing changed after the war. Why did it need to be changed?
I think it was imposed on the Japanese by the Occupation. There was talk that English was to be imposed too but that didn’t happen.
If the writing is horizontal it is like English. If it is vertical, it uses the old style of going up and down and the next line is to the left. The front of the book is our back.
I suspected that was the answer (occupation-related). What do you think about that? Doesn’t seem right to me.
How about the Occupation giving women the right to vote? That happened too.
My thoughts are people make decisions in history. I wasn’t there. I try not to second guess the small stuff. Btw, forcing the Japanese to change a direction was easier than Japanese forcing Taiwanese and Koreans to learn a foreign language and not being very nice about it.
Fair enough.
And other atrocities.
10 Cents said…
“my thoughts are people make decisions in history. I wasn’t there”.
I so agree with this perspective. Too many times people want to look back into history and then interpret or judge decisions by today’s perspectives, knowledge, experiences.
Which is why I think we are almost always wrong in our guesses, assumptions and opinions about the past.
Usually the people who complained the loudest would have done worse.
No date on the coin, other than the writing being right to left?
昭和二十一 =1946
The date is down at the bottom in right to left order.
I can’t make it out.
If you find a copper 1943 penny, they are worth $10,000. The mints switched to steel pennies coated in zinc in 1943, but some copper ones were run by accident and are very, very rare. Mind it isn’t a 1948 that someone tried to erase the first half of the ‘8.’ Fakers have been known to pull that trick.
On the first picture at the bottom
年一十二和昭
Yes, it is hard to see. I will clean it up and take another picture.
BTW, how much is an extra fine Dime worth?
BTW, how much is an extra fine Dime worth?
About 10¢.
Good. It is nice to be worth something and be shiny.