The was a Japanese coin worth one two-hundredth of a

Japanese yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. Th ...

, as 5 ''rin'' equalled sen, and 100 sen equaled 1 yen. These coins were a successor to the equally valued half sen coin which was previously minted until 1888. Overall, the history of the five rin coin is brief as they were only minted from 1916 to 1919 before being devalued monetarily. They were later demonetized by the end of 1953 and are now widely available for collectors.

History

Five rin coins are first mentioned in new coinage laws that were passed in 1897 when Japan officially switched to the

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

. These coins are a successor in terms of value to the previously issued half sen coin which had been made from 1873 to 1888. Initially the quality of this new "five rin" coin was set in a similar bronze alloy consisting of 95% copper, and 5% tin and zinc. However, only patterns were struck towards the end of

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

's reign as the urgent task at the time was to manufacture gold and silver coins in accordance with the new law. Five rin coins were eventually minted for circulation in 1916 during the 5th year of

Emperor Taishō , posthumously honored as , was the 123rd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1912 until his death in 1926. His reign, known as the Taishō era, was characterized by a liberal and democratic shift in ...

's reign in response to rising inflation caused by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

which led to an overall shortage of subsidiary coins. By this time, the "five rin" coin had been reduced in diameter from the size of a half sen (21.8mm) down to 18.78mm and weighed over a gram less. Their mintage period was brief as five rin coins were discontinued after only four years of production due to their sharp decline in monetary value. The overall demand for subsidiary coinage had ended as Japan slipped into a post-war recession. Five rin coins were eventually taken out of circulation at the end of 1953 and demonetized. The Japanese government passed a new law during this time that abolished subsidiary coinage in favor of the yen. Five rin coins are now easily obtainable in circulated grades. This is due to a large amount of surviving coins that were kept by the public either as souvenirs or from unused accumulation.

Circulation figures

Taishō

The following are circulation figures for the ''five rin coin'', all of which were minted between the 5th and 8th year of Taishō's reign. The dates all begin with the Japanese symbol 大正 (Taishō), followed by the year of his reign the coin was minted. Each coin is read

clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions or senses of rotation. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands relative to the observer: from the top to the right, then down and then to ...

from right to left, so in the example used below "五" would read as "year 5" or 1916. :"Year" ← "Number representing year of reign" ← "Emperor's name" (Ex: 年 ← 五 ← 正大)

References

{{Japanese currency and coinage Coins of Japan Japanese sen Five-base-unit coins Currencies of Japan