The other day I did my first choice for my Christmas coin wishlist, the Tochigi Prefecture coin. Today I'm going to do my next one.

This beauty!

From 1870 to 1914, the yen was roughly equal to the dollar, and so we got this beautiful silver yen coin in the silver dollar size. It was actually based on the Mexican eight-reales coin (the Mexican dollar). It weighs about 26.96 g and is 90% silver. It features this fantastic dragon image on one side and either the classic laurel wreath or a sunburst on the other, depending on the year.

Three of those years, 1875-1877, they minted it labeled as "trade dollar", but the other years it was labeled as one yen.

I do have one of these coins. Unfortunately it is not in great condition. It's not bad, but clearly worn, especially on the reverse side.

(See my post about this coin)

From what I understand, this coin is one of the most in-demand modern coins. Collectors really love it. As a result, prices for a fine or better copy are really insane. Adding to the chaos, China is constantly pumping out counterfeits of this. In fact, I've seen estimates that most of the silver dragon yen coins you see on Ebay are fakes.

All high quality copies of this coin are going to cost you a lot. Rare years will cost you even more. Some rare dates are 1874, 1875, 1878, and 1879. A decent quality version with one of those dates can easily go for over $1000. The trade dollar years also go for quite a bit, a few hundred at least. But even for a common copy of fine quality, you are probably talking at least $100.

I would love to get a nice copy of this coin. One of those rare dates would be fantastic, but I'd settle for any. For the sake of this wishlist, however, I will pick the 1870 version. Not a super rare year, but not a common one and one that can get to $500—even close to that $1k price point from insane collectors for really flawless copies. 1870 was the only year these were minted entirely in Japanese, with no Latin letters or Arabic numbers.

This would be a fantastic Xmas gift! And that's why it's number 2 on my wishlist.

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.