Yesterday, while casually tidying my wallet, I discovered a 1954 Giza 10 coin—one of Japan’s old 10-yen coins with a ridged edge.
Oh wow!! It has been a long time since I found a ridged-edge 10-yen coin!
1954 Giza 10 Coin
I looked into it a little and learned from the Japan Mint that 10-yen coins with ridged edges were issued from Shōwa 26 (1951) through Shōwa 33 (1958). The one I found is from Shōwa 29 (1954). The Japan Mint’s “Frequently Asked Questions About Coins” also introduces the history of these ridged-edge 10-yen coins.
Unfortunately, a little searching online showed that the 1954 Giza 10 is not especially rare and generally does not command a large premium.
Looking further at the Japan Mint’s mintage figures by year, I found that 520.9 million 10-yen coins dated Shōwa 29 were produced. So there really were quite a lot of them—.
Still, finding one somehow makes me feel lucky.
And when I think about it, it really is amazing.
This little coin has remained usable as 10 yen all the way from Shōwa 29 to today.
It has seen the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the 1970 Osaka Expo, Japan’s bubble economy, and the long Heisei era that followed—all while remaining worth exactly 10 yen. It is a tiny coin that has lived through postwar Japan.
When I think that this 1954 Giza 10 coin has stayed in active use through all those times, it really is remarkable!
“Stay an active 10-yen coin for the next Tokyo Olympics too!”
That was how I felt when I originally wrote this article. And now, even those Tokyo Olympics have become an event of the past.
I also wrote about the hard-to-describe feeling after the Olympics ended in an earlier post, “After the Warriors’ Dreams”.
Even so, this coin can still be used today as 10 yen.
Somehow, that makes me want to treasure it just a little.