Catalog
3 Fun Yamato Province; Tsubai-Chō
| Issuer | Nagasawa Office (Obiya Kyūshichi), Tsubai-Chō |
|---|---|
| Year | 1730 |
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| Size | 143 x 27 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 改都南 改〇〇東都〇〇換楮 銀參分 〇令便于萬〇〇〇〇〇 長沢用所 (Translation: Silver three Fun. Nagasawa Office.) |
| Reverse description | Upper vignette of three Hōju Cintāmaṇi (sacred wish-granting jewels) emitting flames, set upon a low ceremonial table. The remaining field is filled with vertical columns of brushwork text recording issue authority, exchange terms, date, and issuing office details. |
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| Comments |
Tsubai-chō was a small post-town settlement in Yamato Province, and the Nagasawa office — operating under the merchant Obiya Kyūshichi — was among dozens of private commercial houses across the Kinai region that issued fractional paper currency during the mid-Edo period to address chronic shortages of small copper coin. These privately issued hansatsu-style notes circulated on the creditworthiness of the issuer alone, accepted locally but rarely beyond the immediate trading area.
The "3 Fun" denomination is telling — fractional fun notes were the workhorses of everyday market transactions, filling the gap between official coinage denominations that the Tokugawa mint consistently failed to supply in adequate volume.