Catalog
3 Silver Monme private issue, Oono-gumi
| Issuer | Oono-gumi (Kaga Domain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Monme (historical) |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress in black with red stamp; at the upper register, a full-length vignette of Ebisu, the god of fishermen, shown in three-quarter view facing half-left, raising a fishing rod with his right hand and drawing the line with his left. An auspicious motif occupies the lower register. Vertical column inscriptions in classical Chinese characters run alongside the central field, denoting the denomination and nature of the instrument. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Letterpress in black; a stylized Houju (sacred jewel) motif surrounded by rice plant sprays occupies the upper portion of the note. The issue date is inscribed below the central motif, followed by the names of the guarantors and exchangers arranged at the foot. Several official stamps are applied in the central field over the issuer's name, and large bold handwritten calligraphy in ink covers much of the surface. |
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| Comments |
Oono-gumi was a merchant consortium operating under the authority of Kaga Domain — one of the wealthiest han outside Tokugawa direct control — and issued silver-denominated scrip to facilitate trade in the domain's extensive commercial networks. By 1869, the Meiji government had already begun the process of abolishing domain currencies, making this issue a creature of a dying monetary order. Notes like this were redeemable in silver monme, the traditional weight-based unit, even as reformers in Tokyo were pushing toward a decimal yen system that would formally arrive three years later.
Private merchant-house issues from Kaga are considerably less documented than official han札 (hansatsu), and attribution to specific gumi can be difficult to verify from surviving records.