| Hirohito |
A special 20-gram coin in 999 gold, with a legal tender face value of 100,000 yen but with a gold content worth 40,000 yen, issued by the Japanese government in 1986 to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Emperor Hirohito’s reign. Just over nine million coins containing 182 tonnes (6 million oz) of gold were issued initially in 1986, with a further issue of one million coins (including 300,000 proof quality) in 1987.
Ten million Hirohito coins
were
issued for Emperor Hirohito's
60th anniversary in 1986
(Credit: World Gold Council)
Japan issued a similar special coin in 1991 for the new Emperor Akihito, using 60 tonnes (2 million oz) of gold to make two million coins of 30 grams, with a further minting of two million 18 gram coins in 1993 for the wedding of the Crown Prince.