Japan 50 Sen 1922 to 1938

Collectors like these coins for two reasons: (1) they have a nifty pattern with two phoenix birds, and (2) they are made out of silver. The silver gives a Base Value (BV) and the nifty-ness gives value over and above BV.

To compute BV, multiply the current price of silver by 0.115, the number of troy ounces of silver in each coin. Today silver is trading at about $16 US dollars per troy ounce, so BV = 0.115 x 16 = $1.85 US dollars. Tomorrow silver will be at a different price, so be sure to look it up.

Catalog values for all dates (except one date, see below) run like this:

worn: BV
average circulated: BV + $2 US dollars approximate catalog value
well preserved: BV + $4
fully uncirculated: BV + $15

There is one *good date* in the series. It is 1938, the 13th year of the Showa Dynasty. See the picture below:

If your coin has the exact same date as the one in this picture, here are catalog values:

50 SEN YEAR 13:
worn: $50 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $75
well preserved: $130
fully uncirculated: $300

The 1938 coin in our large picture sold for $125 in a 2014 auction by Stack's Bowers. As always, CoinQuest is grateful to Stacks' Bowers for use of their coin photo.
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