Catalog
1 Ryō 'Kaga Koban'
| Issuer | Maeda Clan (Kaga Domain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1603 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | Plain, unadorned hammered gold surface with no design, inscription, or stamp of any kind. The reverse retains the characteristic flat, slightly irregular texture typical of hand-hammered koban-style gold coinage of the early Edo period. |
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| Mint | Kaga Domain Mint (Kanazawa) |
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| Additional information |
The Maeda were the wealthiest of the outside lords — their Kaga Domain yielded over a million koku of rice annually, second only to the Tokugawa themselves. That financial independence made the shogunate perpetually nervous, and Kaga's ability to strike its own gold currency was a visible expression of the domain's autonomy. Most han-issued coinage was suppressed or absorbed into the Tokugawa monetary system within decades; Kaga issues survived longer than most precisely because the Maeda had the political weight to resist standardization.
The 1603 date places this piece at the very opening of the Edo period, before the bakufu had fully consolidated control over regional minting.