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1 yen coins. What to do with them? 2009/8/12 03:44
Last year at the end of my trip to Japan I had over 60 1 yen coins. I found that vending machines wouldn't take them and it would be a waset of time to go to a bank with them, so I just left them in the room I had been staying in. I'm heading back to Japan soon and was just wondering what other people do to get rid of these seemingly useless coins.
by JS (guest)  

1 yen coins 2009/8/12 11:20
JS,

Use them when buying things in shops. If you buy something that is, say, 806 yen, hand over 1,006 yen and get 200 yen change rather than handing over a 1,000 yen note and getting even more 1 yen coins in your change.
If you just want to get rid of them, put them in the charity collection boxes next to the tills in many convenience stores - or at the airport.
by Dave in Saitama (guest) rate this post as useful

do some maths 2009/8/12 12:22
Staff will even wait to see if you want to add one yen coins to the amount you are paying in order to get fewer coins back as change- that's the norm here. If that's too much effort, do as Dave suggested and donate them to charity.
by Sira (guest) rate this post as useful

Airport Charity 2009/8/12 17:59
Hi. Put them in the airport charity boxes. Or they also have these in convenience stores next to the cash register. Or save up 105 of them and treat yourself to an onigiri - Id love to see the look on the shop clerk's face!
by Top Tonkatsu rate this post as useful

. 2009/8/12 18:02
As mentioned, just use them down, if something costs 105 (eg 100 yen shop) pay 5 en, etc, getting rid of 60 shouldn't be too hard.

I had 500 once @_@. Though my bank took care of it, after counting it by hand 3 times .
by ExpressTrain (guest) rate this post as useful

, 2009/8/12 19:20
I use mine on the bus, if i have lots lying around i tape ten together (210 yen fee) or just pour a load in to the machine on entry and add extra after.... its a good way to get rid of them, or use them in the shops like above posters have mentioned.
by ichi-en (guest) rate this post as useful

But something worth more than 60 yen. 2009/8/12 19:48
60 coins is nothing. Go to a shop where customers aren't in a long queue. Stack the 60 coins by tens (make 6 piles of 10 coins) at the cashier. If you can separate the piles in advance, that would be great.

You can also try asking the hotel clerk to see if they can exchange them to six 10 yen coins. Exchanging money isn't usually appreciated, but hotels might be generous to their guests.

Btw, camera film cases are ideal for separating coins, but I suppose people don't use them nowadays in this digital era.
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

1 yen coins 2009/8/12 22:59
Just remember that, legally, shops have the right to refuse an excessive number of coins - actually as few as 20 per denomination - if they want to, so don't push your luck with a huge pile of 1-yen coins for one purchase. ;-)
by Dave in Saitama (guest) rate this post as useful

Up-to-20 rule 2009/8/12 23:27
It's OK to use 21 one-yen coins at once if they are thrown away into a charity collection box; but, that's not OK for payment at the cashier.
When someone tries to use 21 or more Japanese coins of one kind at once for payment, such coins are not legally effective as the currency.

I sometimes put away one-yen and five-yen coins in the change at a fast-food chain store. They are useful also in payment of a C.O.D. [collect-on-delivery] mail; some deliverers smile and say thanks when I prepare coins to make the exact amount.

//
by omotenashi rate this post as useful

Souveniors 2009/8/13 02:43
Actually, one of the most popular ways to use 1 yen coins is to take them to your home country or whatever foreign country you're going to, and give them away as souveniors from Japan. Coins as light as that are quite fun to receive as gifts.

Of course, you can say the same thing about any exotic coin including the 5 or 50 yen coins with the hole. Lots of people like them. Even Keith Richards.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/johnny_depp...
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

. 2009/8/13 04:27
Thanks for the suggestions about donating them to charity. I'll keep my eyes out for donation jars in the stores.

As for using them when paying for things, yeah I did. But I still wound up with over 60 of them when I was leaving Japan. They're like pennies in other countries once you have a couple of them they seem to multiply rapidly.
by JS (guest) rate this post as useful

. 2009/8/13 06:08
I suppose you could also put them into the offering boxes at a temple or shrine. Some locals may think it's strange, but it would go to the upkeep of the shrine/temple, so if you could tolerate a few stares, it's yet another idea :-)
by Kazuyuki78 rate this post as useful

Pray for safe journey home 2009/8/13 10:18
You get stares by throwing in 1 yen coins in temple/shrine boxes? As long as you give a simple prayer and throw in a 10 yen coin or something with it, I don't think so! :)
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

1 yen 2009/8/13 11:15
I usually use my one yen coins on the bus since most of them (at least in Kawasaki where I live) accept them. I just make sure to have the exact amount in a little plastic baggy before getting on.
by Bean (guest) rate this post as useful

Use for 1 yen coins 2011/3/19 14:26
I can think of a few uses for these paper-light coins:

Use them for magic tricks! In high school, my science teacher was trying to make a dime float after watching an NHK special on water. I told him that the 1 yen coins they use in the special were much lighter than the dimes and would be really easy to make float. As long as the water is still and you drop it on the water flat, the surface tension should hold it. worked very well, and my teacher kept a couple for his demos. A fun trick.

You can also use them as gifts in your home country. I had a ton of 10 yen coins and only about ten or so 1 yen coins. People seemed more interested in the 1 yen coins than the ten yen, and they were pretty popular among my friends.

I noticed that, if you are interested in crafts, coins (mostly 5 yen and 50 yen) make for interesting necklaces that I have seen sold for as much as $15! You can make a nice profit from only 5 yen and ten cents worth of materials.
by Shinden (guest) rate this post as useful

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