Catalog
1 Yen
| Issuer | Ministry of Finance, Japan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1872 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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) | P#4 |
| Obverse description | Black intaglio on brown underprint, vertical format with bilateral symmetrical composition. A central column of Japanese text in kaisho script is flanked by confronted phoenix and dragon vignettes, rendered in fine line engraving. A blue Ministry of Finance seal appears at upper left, with the denomination and Meiji-era inscriptions arranged vertically along the central axis. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blue vertical symmetrical design printed in intaglio, with a central column of Japanese text flanked by bilateral guilloche ornaments. Red and green Ministry of Finance seals appear at upper and lower registers, with the serial number rendered in Japanese characters at top and bottom margins. |
| 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 |
Japan's first domestically authorized modern currency series, the Meiji "dajokan-satsu" notes had already exposed the dangers of relying entirely on foreign presses — counterfeit plates and unauthorized overruns were genuine concerns with earlier issues sent to the United States. For the 1872 series the Ministry of Finance contracted Dondorf & Naumann in Frankfurt, bringing in the Genoese engraver Edoardo Chiossone to design and cut the plates. Chiossone would later relocate to Japan permanently in 1875 to help establish indigenous intaglio printing capacity at what became the Imperial Printing Bureau.
The Frankfurt origin of these sheets matters: production was completed abroad and imported, before Japan had the technical means to replicate the work itself.