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100 Yen
| Issuer | Japanese Government (Dajokan) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1872 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 百 百 省蔵大府政本日大 金 百 圓 明 治 通 宝 百 百 (Translation: Hundred (x2) Great Japanese Government Ministry of Finance Hundred gold yen Currency of Meiji Hundred (x2)) |
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| Reverse lettering | 五一八六 ✶いいい 番 号 百 政大 府日 内本 蔵帝 卿國 百 番 号 五一八六 ✶いいい (Translation: Number Hundred Finance Minister of the Imperial Government of Japan Hundred Number) |
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| Comments |
Japan's Meiji government had no domestic capacity for intaglio banknote printing in 1872, so the Dajokan contracted Dondorf & Naumann in Frankfurt — a firm better known at the time for playing cards and securities. Chiossone, an Italian engraver then working in Genoa, was commissioned for the design work before he later relocated to Japan and took a permanent post at the Finance Ministry's printing bureau, where he would spend the rest of his life.
The entire series had to be shipped from Germany, creating obvious logistical vulnerability for a nation trying to assert monetary independence. Frankfurt-printed Japanese government notes of this issue are among the earliest examples of Meiji paper currency and predate the establishment of the Bank of Japan by a decade.