In the past year or so I’ve been noticing a lot more of the new 500 yen coins in circulation. The ones where the inner part of the coin is a different color from the outer. I’ve also noticed they very often don’t work in vending machines.
Can anyone explain to me why this is? Was it a conscious choice to make the coins that way, such as for some security purpose? Or was it just an oversight they didn’t realize? It just seems strange to me and I’m curious if there’s more to the story.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/zae19w/whats_up_with_the_new_500_yen_coins/
1 comment
It’s a different coin so the vending machine need to be updated to recognize it as valid.
As for the design, yes, [increased security features](https://www.boj.or.jp/en/note_tfjgs/note/n_note/data/n_note500c.pdf) is a factor.