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1 Monme Amagasaki, Settsu Province
| Issuer | Amagasaki Exchange Office, Settsu Province |
|---|---|
| Year | 1700-1868 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | 1868 |
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| Obverse description | Tall, narrow letterpress-printed note with a central vertical column of seal-script characters reading 摂州尼崎札 (Settsu Province Amagasaki Scrip) and 銀壹匁 (Silver One Monme), set against a dense woodblock-printed background of swirling clouds and twin dragon vignettes flanking the central inscription. A small rectangular issuer's seal cartouche appears at the upper right, with stylised wave motifs running along the lower register. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 崎尼 引替 役所 (Translation: Amagasaki Exchange Office) |
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| Comments |
Amagasaki hansatsu — domain money issued under the authority of a local exchange office rather than the Tokugawa central government — occupied a legally ambiguous but commercially essential role in Settsu's economy. Settsu Province sat immediately west of Osaka, the commercial heart of Edo-period Japan, and small-denomination notes like this 1 monme piece circulated among merchants and tradesmen who needed fractional silver equivalents that metal coinage could not efficiently supply.
The monme was a unit of silver weight, not a coin, so these notes were effectively receipts against bullion held — or theoretically held — by the issuing office. Redemption reliability varied sharply by domain and decade.