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A History of Coins

1-11 Silver Coins after the Meiwa Period (1764-1771) :        The Transformation of Silver Coins

Front            Back    Meiwa Gomomme-gin (1765） 45mm(length)×21mm(width) Weight: 18.75g  Fineness: 46percent	Side view The coin stamped with the mark of small flowers to prevent counterfeiting.
Front            Back   Meiwa Nanryo Nishu-gin (1772) 26mm(length)×15mm(width)    Weight: 10.1g   Fineness 98 percent
Front            Back                                Side view Tempo Ichibu-gin (1837) 23mm(length)×16mm(width)   Weight: 8.6g    Fineness: 99 percent
Silver Coins after the Meiwa Period 　The Tokugawa Shogunate issued currencies by weight (cho-gin and mameita-gin) after coming to power. In the latter half of the 18th century, it began to issue currencies of fixed weight and value, paving the way for gold-coin units. Following the issue of the Meiwa Nanryo Nishu-gin in 1772, currencies of fixed weight circulated not only in Edo--where the people (especially large-scale merchants) were accustomed to using gold coins--but also in the Kansai region, where currencies by weight were used exclusively.

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Tokugawa Ieyasu carried out the unification of the currency system in line with his policy of national suppression. Because people in western Japan, centered in Osaka, were accustomed to use coins as a means of settlement, the shogunate had no alternative but to permit the practice and supply silver coins. As reflected in the phrase, "Gold in Edo, silver in Osaka," both gold and silver coins were employed in the currency system of the Edo Period (1603-1867), with payment for goods settled in gold coins with fixed weight in units of ryo, bu, and shu in the Kanto region, and silver coins by weight in units of momme, fun and rin in the Kansai region.       From the second half of the 18th century, however, dependence on consumer goods from Osaka decreased with the development of the economic region surrounding Edo. As a result, it became less important to the shogunate to permit the use of currency by weight as a means of exchange. In these circumstances, the government issued the Meiwa Gomomme-gin in 1765. This silver coin of fixed weight was equal in fineness (46 percent) to other silver coins in circulation during the period-such as the Genbun Cho-gin-and 12 pieces of the Meiwa Gomomme-gin  were exchangeable for one ryo of gold coins under the official exchange rate (one ryo of gold coins equaled 60 momme of silver coins). As the issuance of silver coins of fixed weight meant the loss of an opportunity to profit from exchange rate fluctuations and fees gained from weight slicing, however, it was quite difficult to gain the full cooperation of moneychangers. Consequently, the circulation of the Meiwa Gomomme-gin  dwindled, and the coin was recalled two years after its issuance.       In 1772, the shogunate began issuing the Meiwa Nanryo Nishu-gin. This coin, equivalent to two shu of gold, was the first silver coin of fixed weight based on gold-coin units. (Although the term "two shu" was not engraved on the face of the coin, it was possible to exchange eight pieces of Meiwa Nanryo Nishu-gin  for one koban piece.) Made of nearly pure, high-quality silver, the Meiwa Nanryo Nishu-gin  excelled in fineness, but in terms of the official exchange rate its actual value was less than two shu of gold.       Having learned from its issuance of the gomomme-gin, the shogunate established various preferential measures to promote the circulation of the Meiwa Nanryo Nishu-gin , such as lending the coins to moneychangers at no interest in three-year installments, with no collateral. Subsequently, the volume of issuance and circulation of silver coins of fixed weight began to exceed that of currencies by weight. Following the issuance of the Meiwa Nanryo Nishu-gin, silver coins gradually became a supplementary currency to gold coins, with seven types of silver coins of fixed weight issued until the end of the Edo Period.       Because of the large volume of cho-gin that was melted down for the minting of silver coins of fixed weight, approximately 90 percent of silver coins issued consisted of silver coins of fixed weight after the 1830s. Despite the drastic drop in silver coins by weight, the value of goods was still measured in units of silver weight called ginmedate (denomination in silver) in Osaka. This unusual differential between the measured value of the currency and the actual means of payment employed continued up until the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Kenjiro Yamaguchi: Research Division 3, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan Monetary and Economic Studies 16(2), Bank of Japan, 1998

References Bank of Japan, Economic Research Department, Zuroku Nihon no Kahei (Japanese Money), Vol. 3, Toyo Keizai Shimposha 1974 (in Japanese). ---Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Currency, Museum, 1995. Gunji, Isao, Nihon Kahei Zukan (Pictorial Book of Japanese Coins), Toyo Keizai  Shimposha, 1981 (in Japanese). Taya, Hirokichi, Kinsei Ginza no Kenkyu (A Study of Early Modern Silver Mints), Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1963 (in Japanese).