Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Silver Monme private issue, Oono-gumi
| Issuer | Oono-gumi |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Monme Silver / Monme-Gin / Ginme (1601-1874) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Vignette of Ebisu, one of the Seven Gods of Fortune and patron deity of fishermen and tradesmen, occupies the upper portion of the note. Vertical letterpress text in classical Chinese characters runs the length of the narrow format, stating the denomination of one monme of silver and its function as a deposit receipt redeemable for various agricultural and commercial goods. The overall layout is characteristic of Meiji-era private scrip, with a plain paper field and hand-applied stamps. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 銀 壹 匁 分 代諸 銀物 預品 切農 手商 (Translation: One monme of silver Various things and goods charge a silver deposit Agriculture and commerce stamp) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| 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.