1923 Japanese 50 Sen silver (.720) coin, obverse engraved phoenix and chrysanthemum, lettering Wu Shi Qian, reverse engraved sun, lettering Da Ri Ben, Da Zheng Shi Er Nian, Y-46, D: 23.37 mm. Fifty sen coins were first minted in 1870 during the reign of the Meiji emperor. The New Currency Act of 1871 stipulated the adoption of the decimal accounting system of yen with the coins being round and manufactured using Western machinery.[2] Although mintages numbered in the hundreds of thousands, it was reported in 1904 that fifty sen coins were not commonly seen in circulation. Production of silver coins stopped in 1938, and the coins were replaced by brass ones starting in 1946. The final fifty-sen coins were produced two years later, and the coin was eventually taken out of circulation at the end of 1953.