Catalog
1 Monme with 南都改
| Issuer | Daitoku-In (Kōya-san) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1866 |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Yes |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Letterpress in black ink with a red official stamp. The note face is divided into registers filled with scrolling cloud and wave underprint motifs; a large red rectangular seal bearing cursive script is struck in the upper-central field. The lower register carries bold vertical kanji legends within a decorative border of plant and wave ornaments. |
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| Protection description | Red rectangular hand-applied official seal in cursive script, struck in the central register of the reverse. |
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| Comments |
Kōya-san's Daitoku-In temple complex on Mount Kōya issued its own scrip currency well into the Meiji transition period, functioning as a quasi-autonomous monetary authority within its sacred precinct. The annotation 南都改 — roughly "inspected at Nanto," referring to Nara — indicates this note passed through an external verification process, an unusual administrative wrinkle that distinguishes it from standard Daitoku-In issues and suggests it was intended for circulation beyond the mountain's immediate environs.
Temple-issued currency of this type became legally void following the Meiji government's 1871 prohibition on private and ecclesiastical scrip, making 1866 notes among the last legitimate issues of this kind.