Owner Comments:
JNDA 01-35. The design retains the dragon obverse of the inaugural year but the reverse now features a large character denomination with the chrysanthemum crest and the paulownia/chrysanthemum wreath.
4 of the 6 years having significant varieties depending on the Meiji characters and/or the sen characters. The Meiji character variants are either connected or separated. The sen character variants show differences an upstroke. The JNDA illustration for this makes it appear as though the upstroke is either absent vs. fully connected, though I've seen (as seen with this example) a smaller upstroke without being 'connected'.
M. 6 (1873): 'Meiji' character variants
M. 7 (1874): no varieties listed
M. 8 (1875): 'Sen' character variants
M. 9 (1876): both 'Meiji' and 'Sen' character variants (4 types)
M. 10 (1877): 'Meiji' character variant, but a slightly different one than years 6 and 9
M. 13 (1880): Mintage of 79 coins and not easibly collectable
Diameter 15.15 mm, .800 fine silver, weight 1.35 grams.