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1 Silver Monme private issue, Oono-gumi
| Issuer | Oono-gumi |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Monme |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A stylized water-drop motif appears at the top of the note, with the issue date rendered below it. The central field is dominated by large handwritten calligraphy and bears the issuer's name seal alongside the names and personal seals of the exchange guarantors. The lower portion carries the names of the individual exchangers responsible for redemption. |
| Reverse lettering | 巳己治明 大 野 組 橋杉平萩 下山野原 弥利助宗 兵三 一衛郎平 (Translation: Meiji era, year of the yīn earth snake (1869) Oono-gumi Sohei Hagiwara Sukesaburo Hirano Toshibei Sugiyama Yaichi Hashishita) |
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| Comments |
Private silver-denominated paper scrip of this type emerged in Japan during the chaotic opening years of the Meiji period, when the new government had not yet consolidated monetary authority and merchant houses — gumi — continued issuing their own exchange notes backed by commodity silver, as Edo-period practice had long permitted. Oono-gumi was among the merchant syndicates operating in this gap, effectively running a parallel credit system until national currency reforms pushed such instruments out of legitimacy by the early 1870s.
The monme denomination is itself a relic — a traditional weight unit for silver, already obsolete as a formal monetary measure by the time this note was printed.