China - Chopmarked Coins CHINESE CHOPMARKS: JAPAN: Meiji, 1868-1912, AR yen, ND (1897), Y-28a.2, with a few large Chinese merchant chopmarks, on reduced size Japan yen with gin countermark left, XF. In October 1897, Japan revalued the gold yen, and changed from a combination silver/gold standard to an exclusively gold standard. For the next six months silver yen were exchangeable for gold. Part of the demonetized silver coins were melted for use in minting subsidiary coins, and the rest were available for export to Taiwan, Korea and southern Manchuria, Shanghai or Hong Kong for use as bullion silver. Before being exported, they were countermarked with the character for silver (gin), in a circle, to prevent them from being returned to Japan for another shot at exchange for gold. The gin countermark appears in a specific position - to the left or right of the ichi (one) character on the reverse. Krause states that the main Mint at Osaka applied the mark on the left side, and the subsidiary Tokyo Mint applied it to the right.
*拍品信息由各家拍卖公司提供，首席数据中心刊载出于传递更多信息之目的，并不意味着赞同其观点或证实其描述。
