Japan Mint
Why does Japan still have a 1 Yen coin?
1 Yen is worth about 1 cent Australian, so it can’t really buy anything. In Australia, the mint stopped making 1 & 2 cent coins in 1990, because they don’t have any practical value anymore. While I was on holiday in Japan I was given some 1 Yen coins in my change. I didn’t know what to do with them, so I gave one to a busker when I got back home as a joke and kept the other as a souvenir. I was wondering why the Japanese still use them. Are they supposed to be lucky or something?
Why shouldn’t they??
You should know that Japanese shops love to have a number 8 at the end of a price – not because they think it’s lucky in any way, but because they think they can fool the public! 99円 is virtually 100円, and everybody knows it! But 98円 is not quite SO close … so instead of thinking “That’s virtually 100円!” people are expected to think “That’s LESS than 100円!!!”
Apparently Sony started it … but with Sony products the price didn’t actually END with an 8 – it ended with an 8,000円!! (Or sometimes an 800円!!)
If Japan abolished the 1円 coin, ALL the prices would go UP!!!! What a shocking thought!!
Japan Mint Crunky Ice Cream Bar