New 20-Yen Gold Coin (Coinage Act of 1897)
新20円金貨（貨幣法）（shin nijū-en kinka） ・ aka: 二十圓金貨幣
- Series
- Modern gold coinage under the Coinage Act
- Denomination
- 20 yen
- Period
- Authorized by the Coinage Act (Law No. 16 of 1897)
Updated: 2026-09-02
Canonical Specifications (statutory)
| Item | Value | Type | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight (Art. 6) | 16.6665g | Legal provision | [1],[3] |
| Fineness (Art. 5) | 900/1000 | Legal provision | [1],[3] |
| Pure gold (derived from Art. 2) | 15g | Legal provision | [1],[3] |
FACTArticle 6 of the Coinage Act fixes the weight at "4 monme 4 bu 4 rin 4 mō 4" — with the gram value 16.6665 g written into the statute itself.[1],[3]
FACTArticle 5 sets the alloy at 900 parts gold to 100 parts copper per thousand.[1],[3]
FACTFrom Article 2 ("2 bu of pure gold constitutes the unit of value, called the yen"), the 20-yen coin contains 15g of pure gold (2 bu × 20 = 4 monme).[1],[3]
INTERPRETATIONPhysical form (diameter, etc.) is delegated by Article 8 to imperial ordinance, whose text this record has not yet consulted — so no diameter is stated.[1],[3]
Historical Context
FACTThe Coinage Act (Law No. 16 of 1897) established the gold-standard coinage system and was repealed by Law No. 42 of 1987 (per the NDL statute index).[2]
Related Types
ESTIMATEThe earlier "old 20 yen" belongs to the separate New Currency Regulation (1871) system; its text is not yet among this record's consulted sources, so no old-type statutory values are stated.
Authentication Cautions
INTERPRETATIONDeviation from the statutory 16.6665g / .900 fine is grounds for suspicion, but matching measurements alone cannot prove authenticity.
Open Source-Acquisition Tasks
INTERPRETATION(1) the form ordinance (diameter, design), (2) the New Currency Regulation text (old-type statutory values), (3) mintage by year (Mint records) — no values are stated until each source locator is obtained.
Auction Records
No auction records confirmed for this exact coin type yet. Category-wide median prices are not shown as if they were prices for this type. Once confirmed, records will be listed here with auction house, sale, date, lot, grade, realized price (hammer vs. total), source URL, and review date.
References
- [1]「貨幣法・御署名原本・明治三十年・法律第十六号」（国立公文書館デジタルアーカイブ） — https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/file/155018.html（accessed: 2026-09-02）一次資料（御署名原本）。当サイトからの自動取得は 403 のため、目録情報はオーナー確認済み locator による（access_mode: CITED_LOCATOR）。
- [2]「貨幣法（明治30年3月29日法律第16号）」（国立国会図書館 日本法令索引） — https://hourei.ndl.go.jp/simple/detail?current=-1&lawId=0000003990（accessed: 2026-09-02）法令の書誌・沿革の正本（昭和62年法律第42号により廃止、の沿革情報を含む）。
- [3]「貨幣法（全文転写）」（ウィキソース） — https://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/貨幣法（accessed: 2026-09-02）条文の逐語確認に用いた community transcription。原資料が公開されているため TIER A にはしない。