Older Yen still spendable?

[SortOf]

My uncle had quite a bit of yen in his collection (mainly 60's - 80's prints) which I exchanged to him for roughly half the US value since he had no use for it anyway. Its a decent amount of older printed yen, I think near 500,000...

My question is would this still be spendable in Japan?

 

[pipokun]

Yes, you can use them. But to avoid hustles at shops, you should go to bank at first and exchange them into new bills.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

I would think so, but your best bet would be to go to a bank for a deposit. If you don't have a bank account, they might trade it in for newer cash.

The problem is that even if it is still considered legal tender, your average storekeeper might not know that. It's better to go to a bank, where there is BOUND to be someone who knows well enough to help you.

EDIT: Oh, Pipokun beat me to it!

 

[Mike Cash]

For the oldest of the stuff, you may wish to shop it around to dealers as collectibles. True, they won't have appreciated in value much (if at all), but anything above face value is a plus.

 

[mr.sumo.snr]

For the oldest of the stuff, you may wish to shop it around to dealers as collectibles. True, they won't have appreciated in value much (if at all), but anything above face value is a plus.

I look forward to the day when my bank finally has a sale....