The Gindaitsūhō was issued in 1703 as an emergency copper substitute for silver, authorized when the Tokugawa shogunate faced acute silver shortages following the monetary disruptions of the Genroku era. Tsunayoshi's government had already debased the silver coinage so aggressively through the 1690s that public confidence had largely collapsed, and this piece was part of the stopgap response.
Production was short-lived. The issue was withdrawn relatively quickly and never became a fixture of everyday exchange, which partly explains why survivors tend to appear in better-than-expected condition.
The Gindaitsūhō was issued in 1703 as an emergency copper substitute for silver, authorized when the Tokugawa shogunate faced acute silver shortages following the monetary disruptions of the Genroku era. Tsunayoshi's government had already debased the silver coinage so aggressively through the 1690s that public confidence had largely collapsed, and this piece was part of the stopgap response.
Production was short-lived. The issue was withdrawn relatively quickly and never became a fixture of everyday exchange, which partly explains why survivors tend to appear in better-than-expected condition.