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20 Sen
| Issuer | Japanese Government (Daijō-kan) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1872 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Sen (0.20 JPY) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio on brown underprint with vertical symmetrical layout. A central column of Japanese text is flanked by mirror-image vignettes of confronted phoenix and dragon motifs. A green Ministry of Finance seal appears at upper left, with denomination and issuer inscriptions in classical Chinese characters arranged vertically throughout the design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 二 二 十 十 省蔵大府政本日大 二 十 錢 明 治 通 宝 二 二 十 十 (Translation: Twenty (x2) Great Japanese Government Ministry of Finance Twenty sen Currency of Meiji Twenty (x2)) |
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| Comments |
Japan's Meiji government contracted Dondorf & Naumann in Frankfurt for this early emission precisely because domestic printing infrastructure capable of producing secure intaglio currency simply did not exist in 1872. Chiossone — then still working in Europe before his eventual move to Tokyo, where he would spend the rest of his life and is buried — handled both design and engraving, an unusual concentration of responsibility in one hand.
The arrangement was short-lived. Japan moved quickly to build the Printing Bureau, and by the mid-1870s foreign contract printing for government notes was being phased out.