# What kind of coins are these? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114 "2012-02-27T03:12:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/1 "2012-02-27T03:12:53Z")
I have a couple foreign coins and was wondering what they are: [![](http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg) ](http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg) [![](http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg) ](http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg) Thanks for the assistance. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/2 "2012-02-27T03:14:37Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > I have a couple foreign coins and was wondering what they are: > > [http://i42.tinypic.com/3509h52.jpg](http://i42.tinypic.com/3509h52.jpg) > > [http://i41.tinypic.com/2r6mr6u.jpg](http://i41.tinypic.com/2r6mr6u.jpg) > > Thanks for the assistance. The script is Korean. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/3 "2012-02-27T03:21:17Z")
[Korean coins](http://www.google.com/search?q=korean+coins&hl=en&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GZAG_enUS448US448&site=webhp&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=e_ZKT-H7I4T0sQKorPzqCA&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=943&bih=614) Yours seem to be included. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/4 "2012-02-27T03:25:46Z")
The second one is the 100 Won coin of South Korea. Roughly equivalent to a dime or so in USD. The first one looks more like a one yen coin, so Japanese. I don’t know how much that is worth. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/5 "2012-02-27T03:25:46Z")
First one is Japanese. Second is Korean. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/6 "2012-02-27T03:27:35Z")
The first coin is _not_ Korean. The front side top says 日本国, “Nation of Japan”, and at the bottom it says 一円 which is “1 yen”. Don’t know enough characters to read the back. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/7 "2012-02-27T03:28:30Z")
Bwuh? Is that first one not a Japanese one-yen coin? Or am I imagining being able to read it? (To my eyes, those are Chinese characters, not Korean script… What I don’t know is, how old us the coin and how recently did Korea use Chinese characters on coins?) ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/8 "2012-02-27T03:29:30Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > The first coin is _not_ Korean. The front side top says 日本国, “Nation of Japan”, and at the bottom it says 一円 which is “1 yen”. Don’t know enough characters to read the back. :smack:Yes that is what I get for only looking at the second link. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/9 "2012-02-27T03:31:02Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > (To my eyes, those are Chinese characters, not Korean script… What I don’t know is, how old us the coin and how recently did Korea use Chinese characters on coins?) Japan adopted Chinese characters for more formal writing. > **[Kanji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji)** > > Kanji (漢字; .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}pronounced \[kaɲ.dʑi\] ⓘ) are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequently-derived syllabic scripts of ... > [@](#): > > Kanji (漢字; listen) are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi[1] that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana (ひらがな, 平仮名), katakana (カタカナ, 片仮名), Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet (known as “rōmaji”). The Japanese term kanji (漢字) for the Chinese characters literally means “Han characters”[2] and is the same written term in the Chinese language to refer to the character writing system hanzi (simplified Chinese: 汉字; traditional Chinese: 漢字).[3] ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/10 "2012-02-27T03:35:31Z")
Actually, the back of the first coin says something about the date, but maybe it’s dynastic date or something. X X 二 年 - something something two year. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/11 "2012-02-27T03:35:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [Korean coins](http://www.google.com/search?q=korean+coins&hl=en&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GZAG_enUS448US448&site=webhp&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=e_ZKT-H7I4T0sQKorPzqCA&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=943&bih=614) > > Yours seem to be included. Sorry, thought I had spotted the first one in the OP. I was actually looking at[this](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=korean+coins&hl=en&sa=X&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GZAG_enUS448US448&biw=943&bih=614&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=XxnC-aCaauBWmM:&imgrefurl=http://www.150currency.com/convert-DZD-KRW.htm&docid=f_TtMvEIZikE5M&imgurl=http://www.150currency.com/images/currency/KRW_coins.jpg&w=400&h=200&ei=nPlKT7vXCYH4sQL97d0D&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=403&vpy=283&dur=72&hovh=159&hovw=318&tx=183&ty=84&sig=111022106306841368443&page=2&tbnh=82&tbnw=164&start=16&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:16). ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/12 "2012-02-27T03:42:45Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Actually, the back of the first coin says something about the date, but maybe it’s dynastic date or something. X X 二 年 - something something two year. Yes. If I’m reading it right it says Heisei 2, meaning it was issued in 1990. (… Actually, given that this design didn’t come out until 1955, which was year 29 of the previous era (Showa), it’d have to be Heisei to be a year 2 issue.) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-coins-are-these/614114/13 "2012-02-27T04:16:54Z")
Fun fact about the aluminum Japanese 1-yen coin in the first picture: if placed very carefully on water, it will float.