OSAKA (Kyodo) Japan Mint began stamping out 1,000 yen coins Wednesday at its plant in Kita Ward to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Japan's accession to the United Nations.

"I'm glad that people can recognize the connection between Japan and the U.N. with (the coins)," said Shamin Koda, who heads the U.N. Information Center in Tokyo, after hitting the start button on the minting machine.

Japan Mint will issue about 70,000 of the 3.1 gram coins in late November. A commemorative coin and case will retail for 6,000 yen.