Catalog
20 Yen
| Issuer | Japanese Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1873 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#14 |
| Obverse description | At left, a vignette of a dragon in a circular frame; at centre, Japanese text with official seals; at right, a vignette of a kneeling male figure. The overall layout is characteristic of American Bank Note Company-style engraving, with fine-line guilloche borders framing the central text panel. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette of multiple armoured warriors within an ornate engraved frame; at upper and lower margins, horizontal text inscriptions; flanking elements incorporate circular vignettes of the 20 yen coin, integrated into the decorative border surround. |
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| Comments |
Among the earliest issues of the Meiji government's centralized paper currency program, this note was produced by Continental Bank Note Company of New York — one of several American security printers contracted during the early 1870s as Japan had no domestic facility capable of producing notes of this quality. Continental was a serious competitor to the American Bank Note Company at the time, though it would eventually be absorbed by it in 1877, just four years after this note was printed.
The 20 Yen denomination placed this firmly in high-value territory for daily Japanese commerce. Relatively few would have circulated in any conventional sense.