1 Monme

Ashimori was among the smallest domains in Tokugawa Japan — a mere 10,000-koku holding in Bitchū Province — yet like hundreds of other han it issued its own paper currency for local circulation. These domain notes, known as hansatsu, were a practical solution to the chronic shortage of metallic coinage in rural economies, but they also carried an inherent risk: the notes were only redeemable within the issuing domain's borders, worthless the moment you crossed into the next han.

The monme denomination places this firmly within a silver-weight accounting system, even though no actual silver necessarily changed hands. Ashimori hansatsu from this period are rarely encountered outside Japanese specialist collections.