Catalog
1 Mon 'Ryuhei Eihō' - Kammu
| Issuer | Japan |
|---|---|
| Year | 796-818 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | DHJ#1.30 - 1.39 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain reverse exhibiting the characteristic flat, unadorned field of early Japanese cast copper coinage. The central square perforation is framed by a raised square boss, itself surrounded by a broad, smooth inner field and a raised outer rim. No inscriptions, symbols, or decorative elements are present. The surface shows the typical textured finish resulting from the sand-casting process used during the Heian period. |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.30; large characters - ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.31; middle side stroke of 永 goes over フ - ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.32; Low 寳 - ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.33; compact 永 - ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.35; small flan, large characters - ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.36; small flan, low 寳 - ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.37; small flan, narrow 平 with long central down stroke - ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.38; small flan, small characters - ND (796-818) - DHJ# 1.39; small flan, middle horizontal stroke of 永 as wide as hole - |
| Additional information |
Eiraku Tsūhō this is not. The Ryūhei Eihō was the third emission in Japan's Kōchōjūnisen series — twelve successive copper coinages issued between 708 and 958 as the imperial court attempted, largely without success, to establish a monetized economy among a population that preferred rice and cloth as exchange media. Kammu's reign saw aggressive fiscal and military expenditure, including the costly campaigns against the Emishi in northern Honshū, and the coinage was partly a mechanism for funding that ambition.
Circulation remained thin outside the capital region. By the time the series ended in the mid-tenth century, the experiment had effectively failed.