The 1 yen coin is currently the smallest denomination of Japanese yen. It has been in use since 1887 . The current design was first minted in 1955.

First One-Yen Coin

The first one-yen coin was introduced in 1887 as a 90% silver coin. Its obverse featured a dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

 and the coin's name in Japanese and English. The reverse had a Japanese symbol within a wreath with a chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Etymology:...

, a symbol of the Japanese Imperial Family above. It was minted until 1912 and a version with a change in the Japanese inscription was minted only in 1914 .

Design

The front of the coin has the figure "1" in a circle with the year of issue in kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

below and the reverse side has a young tree, intended to symbolize the healthy growth of Japan.

Non-monetary use

Since all 1 yen coins weigh 1 gram, they are sometimes used as weights. If placed carefully, 1 yen coins will not break surface tension and can float in water.