Editing Japanese yen (section)

===Early history (1868–1876)===
[[File:5yen-M3.jpg|thumb|right|[[5 yen coin]] from 1870 (year 3)]]
[[File:50sen-M3.jpg|thumb|right|[[50 sen coin]] from 1870 (year 3)]]
Although the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Edo Shogunate]] collapsed with the [[Meiji Restoration]] and a new government was born, the monetary system still took over that of the former entity. During this unstable period, the confusion caused by this form of exchange caused economic turmoil.<ref>[[Japan Currency Museum]] (日本貨幣博物館) permanent exhibit, articles: [https://www.imes.boj.or.jp/cm/english/history/content/ The History of Japanese Currency], [https://www.imes.boj.or.jp/cm/english/FAQs/FAQcurrency/answer.html FAQs Japanese Currency] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807070240/https://www.imes.boj.or.jp/cm/english/FAQs/FAQcurrency/answer.html |date=August 7, 2022 }}</ref> The gold (counting money) system of eastern Japan and the silver (weighing money) system of the western Japan were not unified, and the difference in the gold-silver ratio caused a large amount of gold to flow overseas at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. [[Emperor Meiji]] responded to this by appointing [[Ōkuma Shigenobu]] as head of Japan's monetary reform program. He worked with [[Inoue Kaoru]], [[Itō Hirobumi]], and [[Shibusawa Eiichi]] to run the Ministry of Finance, seeking to introduce a modern monetary system into Japan. Ōkuma eventually proposed that coins, which were previously square, be made into circles, and that the names of the traditional currencies, [[ryō]] (両), bu (分) and shu (朱), be unified into yen (円), which was accepted by the government.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.waseda.jp/inst/weekly/feature/2019/10/21/67340/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031042320/https://www.waseda.jp/inst/weekly/feature/2019/10/21/67340/|script-title=ja:日本の通貨はなぜ「円」なのか 大隈重信と新1万円札・渋沢栄一【前編】|language=ja|publisher=[[Waseda University]]|date=October 21, 2019|archive-date=October 31, 2022|access-date=October 31, 2022}}</ref> Other rejected proposals included physical [[Japanese units of measurement#Mass|weight units]] of "Fun" and "Momme" which never made it past the [[List of Japanese coinage patterns#Meiji|pattern stage]].<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820234637/https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/japan-fun-km-pn2-1869-cuid-1166640-duid-1451958|archive-date=August 20, 2019|url=https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/japan-fun-km-pn2-1869-cuid-1166640-duid-1451958|title=Japan Fun KM# Pn2 - (1869)|publisher=[[Numismatic Guaranty Corporation]]|access-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119032108/https://www.pcgs.com/valueview/fun-1869-1958/nd-1869-p5-fun-km-pn3-bn/4829?sn=118130&h=pop|archive-date=January 19, 2020|url=https://www.pcgs.com/valueview/fun-1869-1958/nd-1869-p5-fun-km-pn3-bn/4829?sn=118130&h=pop|title=(nd(1869) P5 Fun KM-Pn3, BN) (Special Strike)Last Update|publisher=[[Professional Coin Grading Service]]|access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119031312/https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=2524&lot=150|archive-date=January 19, 2020|url=https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=2524&lot=150|title=Pattern Crossed flag&Mt. Fuji 1Momme Copper ND(1869?)|website=numisbids.com|access-date=August 21, 2019}}</ref>

The first gold yen coins consisted of 2, 5, and 20 yen coins which were struck throughout 1870. Five yen coins were first struck in gold for the Japanese government in 1870 at the [[San Francisco Mint]].<ref name="Frossard">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R_R7KkL4VeUC&q=5+yen+coin+struck+1870|title=The Coin Collector's Journal|author=Edouard Frossard|publisher=Scott and Company|volume=3|year=1878|page=40}}</ref> During this time a new mint was being established at [[Osaka]], which did not receive the gold bullion needed for coinage until the following year.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WInjJ3aId4UC&q=5+yen+coin+struck+1871&pg=PA368|title=Annual Report of the Director of the United States Mint|publisher=United States Mint|year=1895|page=368}}</ref> Gold bullion was delivered from private Japanese citizens, foreigners, and the Japanese government.<ref name="Hisamitsu">{{cite book|title=Monogatari Monogatari|author=Hisamitsu Shigehira|publisher=Mainichi Shimbun|year=1976|pages=176–178}}</ref> Initially the government opted for silver, which would become the standard unit of value leaving gold coinage as a subsidiary.<ref name="GS">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8oxAQAAIAAJ&q=20+yen+1870&pg=PA13|title=Report of the Adoption of the Gold Standard in Japan|publisher=Government Press|year=1899|pages=2–8}}</ref> While gold coinage couldn't be produced domestically in 1870, the mint at Osaka could produce silver coins which included denominations of 5, 10, 20, and 50 sen.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K49PDAAAQBAJ&dq=Japan+5+sen+coin+December+1870+osaka&pg=RA2-PA683|entry=Years-Estyate For Yen|title=Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy|author=John Eatwell|publisher=Springer|year=2016|page=683|isbn=978-1-349-10358-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVctAAAAIAAJ&dq=Japan+5+sen+coin+1870&pg=RA2-PA25|title=History - The First Period|series=Financial and Economic Annual of Japan|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|issue=7|year=1907|page=25}}</ref> None of these coins dated "1870" circulated until the [[Meiji (era)|Meiji government]] officially adopted the "yen" as Japan's modern unit of currency on June 27, 1871.<ref>A. Piatt Andrew, ''Quarterly Journal of Economics'', "The End of the Mexican Dollar", 18:3:321–356, 1904, p. 345</ref> This Act formally stipulated the adoption of the decimal accounting system of ''yen'' (1, {{nihongo2|圓}}), ''{{vanchor|sen}}'' ({{frac|100}}, {{nihongo2|錢}}), and ''{{vanchor|rin}}'' ({{frac|1000}}, {{nihongo2|厘}}). The new currency was gradually introduced beginning from July of that year.

Japanese yen denominated paper currency was also conceived with the coins in 1870 as [[Meiji Tsuho]] notes by Italian engraver [[Edoardo Chiossone]].<ref name="Chiossone">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfXIDwAAQBAJ&q=Dondorf+Naumann+Japan&pg=PA223|title=A bridge of Art and Culture Connecting Italy and Japan|series=Exchanges and Parallels between Italy and East Asia|author=Gaoheng Zhang, Mario Mignone|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2019|page=223|isbn=978-1-5275-4462-8}}</ref> These were released as [[fiat currency]] in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, and 100 yen along with subsidiary notes of 10, 20, and 50 sen in 1872. Almost concurrently, the government established a series of national banks modeled after the system in the [[United States]] which issued national bank notes.