SEN: COIN OF JAPAN
50 sen (銭), 1923: Empire of Japan
Date on coin: 年二十正大 — year 12 of Taishō.
Taishō era: the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) — 1912-1926.
五十錢: 50 sen.
本 日 大: Great Japan (in Japanese it is referred to as Dai Nippon Teikoku (大日本帝国), which translates to "Empire of Great Japan").
Phoenixes (mythical birds), karakusa (stylized arabesque pattern) sprigs, paulownia (plant; Government Seal of Japan) and chrysanthemum (flower; Imperial Seal of Japan or National Seal of Japan) — Japanese national symbols.
Sunburst (rising sun) surrounded by two cherry (japanese cherry or sakura) blossoms.
- Silver (0.720): 23.5 mm - 4.95 g
- Reference price: 7.7$
COIN SEN — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- EMPIRE OF JAPAN (1870-1945) + JAPAN (...): sen = 1/100 yen = 10 rin
- MALAYSIA (1967-…): sen = 1/100 ringgit
- BRUNEI DARUSSALAM (1967-...): sen = 1/100 ringgit
- REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA (1951-…) + PROVINCES OF INDONESIA /RIAU (1962) + IRIAN JAYA (1962)/: sen = 1/100 rupiah
- KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA (1959) + PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KAMPUCHEA (1979): sen = 1/100 riel
KOREA (1910-1945), TAIWAN (1895-1946) — without coins: only banknotes and stamp currencies.
The sen coin of all countries and historical epochs can be divided into two groups, depending on their etymology. The first group includes the sen of Japan (as well as Korea and Taiwan, as varieties of Japanese sen during the occupation); their name comes from the Chinese character "qian", which means "coin", "money". The sen of the second group — Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Cambodia — got their name from the names of changeable coins of the colonial era: cents and centimes; that is, their name indicates the role of these small coins as a hundredth of the corresponding currencies.
