1964 1000 Yen Japan Silver

My thirty-year-old Japanese catalogue shows a value range from 9000 to 15 000 yen for these pieces. Outside Japan, one would not expect the premium to be as high, of course. It appears from the web site of the Japanese Ministry of Finance that they have not been demonetized ; I believe they were only ever issued as collector's pieces (unlike the silver Y100 coins of the same year, which were the weight & fineness of the circulating issue). 20 grams 925 fine is worth about US$13.50 right now, & 1000 yen is right about $10.

You would be a mad man if you attempted to spend this. It's still legal tender but it's well worth above the face value. From my understanding, these 1000 yen silver coin virtually disappeared from circulation the day it was released although the commemorative 100 yen silver coin floated around for a couple of years.

I know a friend who spend a 5000 yen silver coin - had a good yelling from his grandmom who gave it to him as a present.

Let's put it the other way around - commemorative coins literally disappear from circulation. I tried finding them when I was in Japan last year but no luck. No commemorative 100 yen, 500 yen coin.

The Japan Mint website says that a staggering 15,000,000 of these were minted. When I went to a big coin show in Tokyo a few months ago, you could buy these from many dealers, most with listed prices ranging from 2000 - 3000 yen ($20-30)

I have never seen them in circulation personally, so if they are circulating they aren't circulating much. I believe it is possible to get them for 500 yen from banks if you specifically ask for them, but I have not tried to do this. I do have 3 BU coin/stamp sets (Hiroshima, Miyagi, and Gunma prefectures) from the mint that my father-in-law gave me. They are quite nice to look at.