China - Chopmarks. CHINESE CHOPMARKS: JAPAN: Meiji, 1867-1912, AR yen, ND (1897), Y-28a.4, gin countermark right on reverse of Meiji 15 (1882) yen host coin, with two large Chinese merchant chopmarks added to reverse, better type, toned, EF. 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 to 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.
