100 yen coin


The 100 yen coin is a denomination of Japanese yen. These coins were first minted in 1957 using a silver alloy, before the current design was adopted with an alloy change in 1967. It is the second-highest denomination coin in Japan, after the 500 yen coin. The current 100 yen coin is one of two denominations that depict the emperor's rule date in Arabic numerals rather than kanji.

History

Silver yen

100 yen coinage was first authorized in 1951 with the specification that the coins be made of a silver alloy. These were first minted for circulation in 1957 and feature a phoenix on the reverse. The alloy decided upon consisted of 60% silver, 30% copper, and 10% zinc and came at a time when banknotes of the same denomination were already in circulation. The "100 yen" bill hence became a substitute to the coin as the two were allowed to co-circulate. The design of the coin was later changed in 1959 which removed Latin script and changed the reverse side to show a sheaf of rice. To commemorate the summer 1964 Olympics in Tokyo 16 million ounces of silver was used to strike the 80,000,000 coins produced. None of these coins were recorded as ever going into circulation as they were grabbed and stored away as collector's items. Minting 100 yen coins was profitable up into the mid-1960s until the worldwide price for silver bullion began to rise. The Japanese government had planned on producing 800 million silver coins over a 10-year span, but the amount of silver held was insufficient. Silver was dropped from the coinage in 1967, which led to coin hoarding and silver smuggling outside of the country for melting.

Cupronickel yen

The current design of the 100 yen coin debuted in 1967, and features sakura blossoms and the denomination in Japanese. A new alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel was decided upon to replace the former silver alloy. It was reported that by 1969 the monetary value in the old silver coins was US$3 an ounce, prompting a "coin retirement" plan by the government. On August 1, 1974, 100-yen notes were withdrawn from circulation, but notes dated after World War II were allowed to retain their legal tender status. The amount of coins produced then decreased from the mid to late 1970s as a possible attempt to control economic inflation. The issuance of the new 100 yen coin has also been cited as a factor in the rapid spread of vending machines during this decade. By the late 1970s into the early 1980s a myth was established that tied the amount of coins produced with the growing popularity of the arcade game industry, particularly the 1978 game Space Invaders. While there were reports of Japanese cities briefly running out of 100 yen coins, arcade operators would have emptied out their machines and taken the money back to the bank, which kept the coins circulating.
Production of the 100 yen coin dropped going into the mid-1980s due to various proposed reasoning. Japan at the time had been in economic decline caused in part by trade tensions with other countries that were competing with Japanese exports. The Japanese government was trying to deflate the yen, and achieve more imports and less exports. Another explanation put forward is the introduction of the 500 yen coin in 1982. The Japanese mint at the time stated that a higher value coin was needed for use in vending machines. In any case mintage figures recovered towards the very end of Emperor Shōwa's reign. No coins were minted in 1989 as molds needed to make coins for Akihito had already begun. Denominations of 1, 5, 10, and 500 yen were given priority over 50 and 100 yen coins. By the mid-1990s 100-yen shops were expanding into retail chains; these shops are akin to American dollar stores. Coin production remained unhindered during the early years of Akihito's reign until the millennium, when 500 yen coins were turned out in record numbers. The offset caused low mintage numbers which included only 8,024,000 pieces struck in 2001, a record low for the series. The 100 yen coin continues to be produced as the second-highest denomination of yen coinage.

Designs

Circulation figures

Shōwa

The following are circulation dates which cover Emperor Hirohito's reign. The dates below correspond with the 32nd to the 64th year of his reign. One hundred yen coins had three main different designs, but there was no overlap in mintage between them. When these coins were first made they used Kanji script to represent the date. The current one-hundred yen coin dates to 1967 when Arabic numerals were used to reflect the emperor's year of reign. Coins for this period will all begin with the Japanese symbol 昭和.
Year of reignJapanese dateGregorian dateMintage
32nd三十二195730,000,000
33rd三十三195870,000,000
34th三十四1959110,000,000
35th三十五196050,000,000
36th三十六196115,000,000
38th三十八196345,000,000
39th三十九196410,000,000
40th四十196562,500,000
41st四十一196697,500,000
42ndN/A1967432,200,000
43rdN/A1968471,000,000
44thN/A1969323,700,000
45thN/A1970237,100,000
46thN/A1971481,050,000
47thN/A1972468,950,000
48thN/A1973680,000,000
49thN/A1974660,000,000
50thN/A1975437,160,000
51stN/A1976322,840,000
52ndN/A1977440,000,000
53rdN/A1978292,000,000
54thN/A1979382,000,000
55thN/A1980588,000,000
56thN/A1981348,000,000
57thN/A1982110,000,000
58thN/A198350,000,000
59thN/A198441,850,000
60thN/A198558,150,000
61stN/A198699,960,000
62ndN/A1987193,775,000
63rdN/A1988363,112,000

Heisei

The following are circulation dates during the reign of Emperor Akihito. who was crowned in 1989. The dates below correspond with the 1st to the 31st year of his reign. First year of reign coins are marked with a 元 symbol as a one-year type. Coins for this period all use Arabic numerals for a date, and begin with the Japanese symbol 平成.
  • Japanese coins are read with a left to right format:
Year of reignGregorian dateMintage
1st 1989369,000,000
2nd1990444,953,000
3rd1991375,120,000
4th1992211,130,000
5th199382,240,000
6th199481,767,000
7th199592,874,000
8th1996237,213,000
9th1997272,086,000
10th1998252,612,000
11th1999179,120,000
12th2000172,026,000
13th20018,024,000
14th200210,667,000
15th200398,406,000
16th2004204,903,000
17th2005300,029,000
18th2006216,594,000
19th2007129,904,000
20th200893,811,000
21st2009115,003,000
22nd201067,905,000
23rd2011178,936,000
24th2012402,211,000
25th2013608,892,000
26th2014445,013,000
27th2015410,004,000
28th2016461,064,000
29th2017518,927,000
30th2018567,960,000
31st2019302,006,000

Reiwa

The following are circulation dates in the reign of the current Emperor. Naruhito's accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne took place on May 1, 2019, and he was formally enthroned on October 22, 2019. Coins for this period all begin with the Japanese symbol 令和. The inaugural year coin is marked 元.
  • Japanese coins are read with a left to right format:
Year of reignGregorian dateMintage
1st 201958,614,000
2nd2020453,428,000
3rd2021366,133,000
4th2022293,274,000
5th2023192,927,000
6th2024163,827,000
7th2025TBD

Commemoratives

ImageJapanese dateGregorian dateMintageReason
39
Shōwa		196480,000,0001964 Summer Olympics
45
Shōwa		197040,000,000Expo 70 in Osaka
47
Shōwa		197230,000,0001972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo
50
Shōwa		1975120,000,000Expo '75 in Okinawa
51
Shōwa		197670,000,000Golden Jubilee of Emperor Hirohito
27
Heisei		20152,324,00050th Anniversary of the inauguration of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen train service.
28
Heisei		20162,324,00050th Anniversary of the inauguration of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen train service.
30
Heisei		2018Unknown2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics
30
Heisei		2018Unknown2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics
31
Heisei		201919,740,0002020 Tokyo Summer Olympics
31
Heisei		20193,948,0002020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics
元
Reiwa		201911,844,0002020 Tokyo Summer Olympics
元
Reiwa		20197,896,0002020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics
2
Reiwa		202011,844,0002020 Tokyo Summer Olympics
2
Reiwa		20207,896,0002020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics