Is the smallest banknote the 1000 yen?

Eugeniu · 29 Aug 2009

I was reading on Japanese banknotes on a website, which seemed to say that the smallest current banknote denomination is 1000 yen. Because most other countries have smaller denominations, it doesn't seem that likely. Is the smallest Japanese banknote 1000 yen? If so, do people just use coins for smaller denominations?

Chidoriashi · 29 Aug 2009

Yes the smallest is 1000 yen. and yes they just use coins for all others

Mikawa Ossan · 29 Aug 2009

In current use, yes, 1000 is the smallest denomination, but historically there have been smaller.

Here's a link to the first paper note in yen issued by the Meiji government, for 10 yen. It also has a picture of the 5 yen note issued shortly thereafter.
http://namaste.sakura.ne.jp/meijisihei.html

This site was an interesting read!

Eugeniu · 29 Aug 2009

Ah, thanks. It still seems strange to me. In the US, people have taken measures to try to phase out the dollar coin...

Mikawa Ossan · 29 Aug 2009

Actually, the government would much like to phase out the dollar bill, because over the long haul, it is cheaper to mint dollar coins than print dollar bills. Or so I remember remember reading when they introduced the Sacajawea (sp?) dollar coin some years back. The thinking goes that coins last in circulation for much longer than bills due to being more durable thereby decreasing the number of times the mint needs to make replacement currency over a given span of time.

Numark · 30 Aug 2009

Most other countries have coins for smaller denominations equivalent to US $1 and $5. Its a pleasant surprise to be walking around Japan and realize your pocket full of change is worth $25 USD!

Eugeniu · 30 Aug 2009

Mikawa Ossan said:
Actually, the government would much like to phase out the dollar bill, because over the long haul, it is cheaper to mint dollar coins than print dollar bills. Or so I remember remember reading when they introduced the Sacajawea (sp?) dollar coin some years back. The thinking goes that coins last in circulation for much longer than bills due to being more durable thereby decreasing the number of times the mint needs to make replacement currency over a given span of time.

Hm, that's very interesting. Either way though, I haven't seen a silver dollar (not that I've really looked) in months.

Mikawa Ossan · 31 Aug 2009

Eugeniu said:
Hm, that's very interesting. Either way though, I haven't seen a silver dollar (not that I've really looked) in months.

Yeah, people don't seem to like the idea here of dollar coins, do they? I've heard it said that people fear that if the dollar coin ever gain acceptance, it would devalue the dollar 'even more'. I think it has to do with the fact that people in Amereica are used to the idea that dollars are paper and fractios thereof are coin, so they associate coins with small value only.

You should be able to find dollar coins if you buy stamps from a vending machine. That's about the only place I really recall ever seeing them, myself.

AJBryant · 1 Sep 2009

Mikawa Ossan said:
In current use, yes, 1000 is the smallest denomination, but historically there have been smaller.
Here's a link to the first paper note in yen issued by the Meiji government, for 10 yen. It also has a picture of the 5 yen note issued shortly thereafter.
http://namaste.sakura.ne.jp/meijisihei.html
This site was an interesting read!

Yeah, but 10 yen in the Meiji era was a HELL of a lot of money.

undrentide · 1 Sep 2009

Mikawa Ossan said:
In current use, yes, 1000 is the smallest denomination, but historically there have been smaller.

Here's a link to the first paper note in yen issued by the Meiji government, for 10 yen. It also has a picture of the 5 yen note issued shortly thereafter.
http://namaste.sakura.ne.jp/meijisihei.html

This site was an interesting read!

AJBryant said:
Yeah, but 10 yen in the Meiji era was a HELL of a lot of money.

Here's an interesting page showing the price of certain items through Meiji/Taisho/Showa.
http://chigasakioows.cool.ne.jp/ima-ikura.shtml

The initial salary for a teach was approx. 10 yen in Meiji era, and you could buy 10kg of rice at 1 yen back then.
There used to be smaller units for currency under Yen, which were Sen 窶婁 and Rin 窶氾?
10窶氾青??窶婁
100窶婁ﾂ??窶ｰ~

Chidoriashi · 1 Sep 2009

undrentide said:
Here's an interesting page showing the price of certain items through Meiji/Taisho/Showa.
http://chigasakioows.cool.ne.jp/ima-ikura.shtml

The initial salary for a teach was approx. 10 yen in Meiji era, and you could buy 10kg of rice at 1 yen back then.
There used to be smaller units for currency under Yen, which were Sen 窶婁 and Rin 窶氾?
10窶氾青??窶婁
100窶婁ﾂ??窶ｰ~

The price of rice on that chart is really interesting. Back in 1975 it was already all the way up to 2495 yen for 10kg. I mean that is not much less than what you can get a 10kg bag for today.

It is also interesting to see the jump in monthly pay between 1974 and 1984 from 125,700 yen to 403,900 yen.

Pachipro · 10 Sep 2009

Yes,the smallest note today is the 1,000 yen note. I remember back in the day while I was living in Japan when they stopped using the 500 yen note and changed to the 500 yen coin. At the time I went and purchased fifty 500 yen notes, uncirculated, which I still have to this day. I wonder if they are worth more today than what I paid for them as I had hoped? I also have about 200 ten yen coins with the ridges on the sides and about 100 5 yen coins from 30 years ago.

Why the US still uses a one dollar note, or even a five dollar note is beyond me.

Is the smallest banknote the 1000 yen?

Eugeniu

ﾂ〜窶堋ｩ窶堙ｱ窶堙鞘?堋｢ﾂ〜

Chidoriashi

In imagination land

Mikawa Ossan

いかんわ！

Eugeniu

ﾂ〜窶堋ｩ窶堙ｱ窶堙鞘?堋｢ﾂ〜

Mikawa Ossan

いかんわ！

Numark

先輩

Eugeniu

ﾂ〜窶堋ｩ窶堙ｱ窶堙鞘?堋｢ﾂ〜

Mikawa Ossan

いかんわ！

AJBryant

先輩

undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

Chidoriashi

In imagination land

Pachipro

JREF Resident Alien

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