The yen is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market,after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.
The Korean Won or Korean Empire won,was the official currency of the Korean Empire between 1900 and 1910. It was subdivided into 100 jeon.
The South Korean won is the official currency of South Korea. A single won is divided into 100 jeon,the monetary subunit. The jeon is no longer used for everyday transactions,and it appears only in foreign exchange rates. The currency is issued by the Bank of Korea,based in the capital city of Seoul.
The Spanish dollar,also known as the piece of eight,is a silver coin of approximately 38 mm (1.5 in) diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content 25.563 g (0.8219 ozt) fine silver. It was widely used as the first international currency because of its uniformity in standard and milling characteristics. Some countries countermarked the Spanish dollar so it could be used as their local currency.
Trade dollars were silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with countries in East Asia,especially China and Japan. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar,which had set the standard for a de facto common currency for trade in the Far East.
The Manchukuo yuan was the official unit of currency of the Empire of Manchuria,from June 1932 to August 1945.
The silver standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of silver. Silver was far more widespread than gold as the monetary standard worldwide,from the Sumerians c. 3000 BC until 1873. Following the discovery in the 16th century of large deposits of silver at the Cerro Rico in Potosí,Bolivia,an international silver standard came into existence in conjunction with the Spanish pieces of eight. These silver dollar coins played the role of an international trading currency for nearly four hundred years.
The history of Chinese currency spans more than 3000 years. Currency of some type has been used in China since the Neolithic age which can be traced back to between 3000 and 4500 years ago. Cowry shells are believed to have been the earliest form of currency used in Central China,and were used during the Neolithic period.
The yuan is the base unit of a number of former and present-day currencies in Chinese.
The piastre de commerce was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1954. It was subdivided into 100 cents,each of 2~6 sapèques.
The yang (양/兩) was the currency of the Korean states Joseon and the Korean Empire between 1892 and 1902. It was subdivided into 10 jeon (전/錢) or 100 bun (분/分);and 5 yang = 1 hwan (환/圜).
The cash was a currency denomination used in China in imperial times. It was the chief denomination until the introduction of the yuan in the late 19th century.
The coins of the Australian dollar were introduced on 14 February 1966,although they did not at that time include the one-dollar or two-dollar coins. The dollar was equivalent in value to 10 shillings in the former currency.
Japanese currency has a history covering the period from the 8th century AD to the present. After the traditional usage of rice as a currency medium,Japan adopted currency systems and designs from China before developing a separate system of its own.
The 1-yen coin is the smallest denomination of the Japanese yen currency. Historically they were initially made of both silver and gold in the early 1870s. Issues facing the Japanese government at the time included wanting to adopt the gold standard,and competing against the Mexican dollar for use in foreign trade. The decision was made to use silver one yen coins exclusively outside of Japan for trade,while gold coins were minted and used in mainland Japan. Gold and silver coins were eventually allowed to co-circulate in mainland Japan from 1878 to 1897 when they were demonetized. Millions of former one yen silver coins were countermarked by the Japanese government for use outside of the mainland. Silver one yen coins continued to be minted until 1914 for backing up currency.
The 50 sen coin (五十銭硬貨) was a Japanese coin worth half of a Japanese yen,as 100 sen equalled 1 yen. These coins circulated from the late 19th century to the early 1950s,when Japan adopted a single currency unit and this coin was demonetized.
The 20 sen coin (二十銭銀貨) was a Japanese coin worth one fifth of a Japanese yen,as 100 sen equalled 1 yen. These coins were all minted in silver during the Meiji era from 1870 to 1911.
The history of Philippine money covers currency in use before the Hispanic era with gold Piloncitos and other commodities in circulation,as well as the adoption of the peso during the Hispanic era and afterwards.
Qing dynasty coinage was based on a bimetallic standard of copper and silver coinage. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty was established in 1636 and ruled over China proper from 1644 until it was overthrown by the Xinhai Revolution in 1912. The Qing dynasty saw the transformation of a traditional cash coin based cast coinage monetary system into a modern currency system with machine-struck coins,while the old traditional silver ingots would slowly be replaced by silver coins based on those of the Mexican peso. After the Qing dynasty was abolished its currency was replaced by the Chinese yuan of the Republic of China.
Countermarked yen refers to Japanese trade dollars and 1 yen coins that are stamped 銀,literally meaning "silver". The countermark was added by the Japanese government in 1897 to these coins dated up to that point. This came at a time when Japan went onto the gold standard prompting the government to confine these two denominations for use outside the mainland. Due to their eye appeal,these coins are now regarded as collectibles by preference.
