Catalog
1 Yen / Ien'
| Issuer | Императорское Японское правительство (Imperial Japanese Government) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed predominantly in teal/green on a cream ground, the reverse centres on a large scalloped oval guilloche medallion containing a vertical block of Chinese-character text setting out the anti-counterfeiting warning. Below the oval medallion sits a circular red seal bearing the characters 通用 within a decorative border. The overall composition is uncluttered, with the guilloche surround providing the principal decorative and security element. |
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| Protection type | Intaglio printing |
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| Comments |
Pick 16 belongs to the short-lived "Taisho" government note series issued directly by the Imperial Treasury rather than the Bank of Japan — an administrative distinction that mattered at the time, as the two issuing authorities circulated notes concurrently and were not always interchangeable in practice. The 1918 date places this note squarely in the inflationary pressure of Japan's post-WWI economic boom, when silver subsidiary coinage was being hoarded and small-denomination paper had to fill the gap.
The Cabinet Printing Bureau had been producing government securities and official documents since the Meiji period, and its intaglio work on this series is notably finer than the lithographic shortcuts taken on some wartime issues that followed decades later.