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200 Mon 'Tosa-tsūhō'
| Issuer | Tosa Domain |
|---|---|
| Year | 1863 |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Oval (With a square hole) |
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| Obverse description | Oval cast copper-alloy flan with a central square hole, around which four Chinese characters are arranged vertically in the field. The inscription reads 土佐通寳 (Tosa Tsūhō, meaning 'Tosa Currency'), with 土 and 佐 placed above the central aperture and 通 and 寳 below, all rendered in bold relief in the traditional East Asian cash-coin style. The characters are well-defined against the granular cast surface, and the coin is framed by a plain raised rim following the oval outline. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 土 佐 通 寳 (Translation: Tosa Currency) |
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| Additional information |
Tosa Domain — the feudal han covering much of present-day Kōchi Prefecture on Shikoku — issued this piece under emergency authorization as the Tokugawa shogunate's grip on monetary policy loosened in the early 1860s. The political climate in Tosa at the time was extraordinarily volatile; the domain was simultaneously managing radical sonnō jōi factions and attempting to maintain economic function as national trade disruptions drove copper coinage into short supply. Domain-issued currency of this type filled a genuine gap rather than serving any symbolic purpose.
The 200 mon denomination was unusually high for copper domain coinage, pointing to inflationary pressure rather than administrative ambition. Tosa would be absorbed into the Meiji government just five years after this issue.