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1 Silver Monme Bicchu, Okayama
| Issuer | Bicchu Okayama Han (備中岡田銀札) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1732 |
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| Value | 1 Monme |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Tall, narrow vertical note printed by woodblock in black ink on hand-laid washi paper. The upper register contains a rectangular vignette enclosing a deity figure surrounded by decorative foliate scrollwork, surmounted by a single kanji character within an oval cartouche. A large red rectangular seal impression overlies the central portion of this upper vignette. The middle register bears the denomination inscription 銀壹匁 (Silver 1 Monme) in bold brushwork alongside floral chrysanthemum ornaments to the right and a dated inscription reading 壬子暦 (Mizunoe-Ne calendar year, 1732) to the left with an additional small red seal. The lower register is divided into two panels: the upper panel carries the issuer inscription 備中岡田銀札 (Bicchu Okayama Silver Note), and the bottom panel contains the exchange office name 於兒嶋屋 flanked by two circular and rectangular seal cartouches in the corners. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Official seal |
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| Comments |
Bicchu Okayama Han was one of several hundred semi-autonomous domains issuing their own paper currency — hansatsu — under the Tokugawa system, which tolerated local monetary instruments provided they circulated only within domain borders. This note dates to 1732, a catastrophic year in western Japan: the Kyōhō famine, triggered by locust damage to the rice harvest across Chūgoku and Kyūshū, killed an estimated 900,000 people and severely disrupted regional trade networks.
Denominated in silver monme rather than rice or gold, which was the prevailing unit in eastern domains. The official seal functioned as the primary anti-counterfeiting mechanism — rudimentary by any standard, but prosecution for forgery of hansatsu carried severe penalties under Tokugawa law.