P.M. BRIEFING : Sales Slow for Emperor’s Coins

TOKYO — The Japanese government faces a revenue shortfall next year because of poor sales of gold coins minted to honor the late Emperor Hirohito, a leading Japanese newspaper said today.

The Yomiuri Shimbun said that about 2.8 million coins, or one-quarter of the 11 million issued by the Finance Ministry in 1986 and 1987, had been returned unsold and are stored in a vault at the Bank of Japan.

The coins became unpopular among investors after reports that counterfeit versions had been minted and sold.

If it had sold all the coins, the government would have had revenue of $1.8 billion for the budget for the fiscal year starting next April, the paper said.

The coins were issued to mark the 60th year of Hirohito’s reign. He died last year. Each coin contains only 20 grams of pure gold, worth about $295, against a face value of $745.