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1 Bu Hyōgo Port Development
| Issuer | Japan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1867 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Bu (1/4) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black with a blue overstamp, the note is oriented vertically and carries the denomination in bold seal script characters arranged in a central column. Three columns of vertical seal script inscriptions are enclosed within a rectangular frame at the lower portion, read from right to left. A blue-stamped circular seal, with only the upper half visible, appears at the top above the denomination text. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in black with red and black overstamps, the vertical note displays seal script inscriptions enclosed within a rectangular frame. Two small red rectangular stamped seals appear at the top of the frame, while a black-stamped circular seal, visible only in its lower half, is positioned at the bottom of the frame. A small black oval stamp appears at the lower right corner, typically obscured by black ink, and a vertical serial number rendered in Chinese numerals is located at the lower left corner. |
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| Comments |
Hyōgo port — modern Kobe — was forcibly opened to foreign trade in January 1868 under the terms of the 1858 Ansei Treaties, and local merchant financing of the harbor expansion created a brief need for small-denomination scrip that could function outside the existing han currency systems. The bu was already a fractional unit under pressure: the Meiji transition would abolish it entirely within a few years of this note's issue.
The extreme elongation of the format is characteristic of Edo-period Japanese paper money conventions, derived directly from the proportions of traditional tanzaku strips rather than any Western banking influence.