Japan 5-SEN (Y53)

Yatagarasu

I am making an assumption that this is Yatagarusu, a three-legged bird featured in the mythologies of Asia and North Africa. Yatagarusu is the bird of the sun goddess Amaterasu.

The reason for my assumption are two fold: One, the Director of Public Relations of the Japanese Mint confirmed to me personally that Yatagarasu appears on the 1-sen coin (Y#56) and it is reasonable to assume it appears on other coins. Two, those are sun rays on the background behind the bird.

This coin is the fifth 5-sen coin issued in modern Japan, and was minted Year 8-13 (1933-1938) of ruler Hirohito.


Diameter
18.9 mm
Composition
Nickel
Catalogue #
Y53

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