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1 Mon 'Eirakutsūhō' Cast gold
| Issuer | Japan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1587 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Round cast gold coin with a central square hole, the field divided into four quadrants by the presence of four bold Chinese characters in kaisho (regular script) relief. The four-character legend 永樂通寶 (Eirakutsūhō) is disposed in the traditional top-bottom-right-left reading order around the central aperture: 永 (ei) above, 樂 (raku) below, 通 (tsū) to the right, and 寶 (hō) to the left. The characters are rendered in bold, well-defined strokes with a slightly granular cast surface texture visible in the field. A plain raised rim borders the coin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain, uninscribed reverse with a smooth but slightly granular cast surface typical of Japanese cast coinage of the Sengoku period. A raised square rim surrounds the central square hole, itself bordered by a shallow inner ring, with a flat undecorated field extending to the plain outer rim. No legends, symbols, or mint marks are present. |
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| Additional information |
The Eiraku Tsūhō (永楽通宝) was originally a Chinese cash coin of the Yongle Emperor, struck from 1408 onward and imported into Japan in vast quantities. By the Sengoku period it had become the dominant trade currency in central Japan, particularly favored by Oda Nobunaga, who adopted it as his personal monetary standard and emblazoned it on his battle flag. This gold cast version dates to the years of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's consolidation of power, when regional warlords still issued coins drawing on that same symbolic currency to claim legitimacy Nobunaga had established.
Hideyoshi would soon replace the Eiraku system wholesale with his own gold koban standard — making issues like this transitional relics of a monetary order already being dismantled at the moment of striking.