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1 Ryō Dajōkan-satsu
| Issuer | Dajōkan (Grand Council of State) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1868-1869 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | November 1879 |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress in black with red overstamps on a vertically oriented note. The upper register presents the denomination within a scrollwork frame embellished with Chrysanthemum Seals and Five-Seven Paulownia Seals, surmounted by vertical inscription. The lower register contains vertical inscriptions enclosed within a frame of two confronting dragons, with a red circular stamped seal applied over the denomination area. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Letterpress in black with red overstamps. Vertical inscriptions occupy the central field within a frame bordered top and bottom by a pair of Hōō phoenix vignettes amid iridescent clouds over paulownia leaves. A red stamped seal appears at the terminal end of the right-hand inscription column. |
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| Comments |
The Dajōkan-satsu were the Meiji government's first paper currency, issued within months of the 1868 restoration to finance military campaigns against Tokugawa holdouts — most immediately the Boshin War. The new administration had virtually no reserve capital and no established central bank, so these notes were backed by little more than political will and the promise of future tax revenues denominated in rice.
Public acceptance was poor. Decades of Tokugawa-era han notes had left merchants deeply skeptical of government paper, and the Dajōkan-satsu traded at a steep discount against gold and silver coin almost immediately after issue. The government's attempt to mandate par acceptance by decree did little to help.
JNDA#10-4 falls within a series that ran across multiple denominations, all produced using traditional Japanese woodblock techniques rather than Western intaglio printing — a deliberate choice that would be abandoned within a few years as Meiji currency modernization accelerated toward the 1872 establishment of the national banking system.