New 10,000 Yen Banknote Released, Serial Number Auctioned
AA-AA Sold for 376,000 Yen at 38 Times the Price
Father of Japan's Modernization but Controversial for Affair
Revered in Japan but Seen as Exploiter in Korea
Since July, the new 10,000 yen bills issued in Japan have been gaining popularity in the auction market. This is in stark contrast to the initial reactions, which claimed that the face on the new bill was that of an adulterer and therefore unsuitable for use as wedding gifts. The reason the new bills are popular in the auction market is due to the serial numbers printed on them. The bills have serial numbers composed of a combination of numbers and letters located at the top left and bottom right corners. Depending on the combination of the serial numbers, the value can exceed the face value of 10,000 yen (approximately 92,000 KRW) and reach tens or hundreds of thousands of yen.
The 10,000 yen banknote with the AA-AA serial number combination was sold for 376,000 yen at an auction. Photo by Yahoo Auction capture.
On the 27th, over 500 listings of the new 10,000 yen bills were posted on Yahoo Japan Auctions. The highest winning bid so far has reached 376,000 yen (about 3.5 million KRW). This particular bill has four 'AA' sequences at the beginning and end of its serial number. When the first bill with serial numbers starting and ending with 'AA' appeared, it sold for nearly 38 times its face value. The numeric part of the 'AA-AA' bills ranges from '000001' to '900000', so it is estimated that about 900,000 bills were issued. Japanese netizens expect more such bills to appear in the auction market.
Among the items for sale, a bill with six consecutive number 8s, 'AF888888AB', was listed at 177,000 yen (about 1.6 million KRW), bills containing 'AA00' were priced at 11,000 yen (about 100,000 KRW), and 11 bills with consecutive serial numbers ending in the middle digits were listed at 220,000 yen (about 2 million KRW).
From the top, items with continuous 888888, items with AA00, and items continuously numbered from AD111107 including 8, 9, etc. Yahoo Auction capture
Japan released new 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 1,000 yen bills in July for the first time in 20 years. The 10,000 yen bill features a portrait of Eiichi Shibusawa, known as the father of modern Japanese economy. Shibusawa is known to have kept his wife and mistress living under the same roof, and is also reported to have had inappropriate relations with a female servant working in his household. Because of this, some netizens expressed opinions that "it is inappropriate to put Shibusawa on the bill in an era that demands the improvement of women's rights and dignity." In particular, many reacted by saying, "Because it reminds me of (a husband's) infidelity, I cannot use the new bills as wedding gifts."
Additionally, Shibusawa served as the president of Keijo Electric (the predecessor of Korea Electric Power Corporation) during the Japanese colonial period and was a leading figure in economic exploitation. He was involved in building railways such as the Gyeongin Line and Gyeongbu Line, which were used to extract agricultural, forestry, fishery, and mineral resources from Korea and export them to Japan. The figures featured on the new bills, including Shibusawa, were decided by the Abe Shinzo administration in 2019.
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