4 Mon 'Kan'eitsūhō' Reverse ト

The Kan'eitsūhō series had been produced in copper since the early Edo period, but mounting financial pressure in the final years of the shogunate forced the minting of iron substitutes. This four-mon iron issue dates to the turbulent run-up to the Meiji Restoration, when the Tokugawa government was hemorrhaging silver and copper reserves funding its increasingly futile resistance to both domestic rivals and foreign treaty obligations. Iron coins were unpopular and circulated poorly — merchants distrusted them, and hoarding of copper alternatives was widespread.

The ト reverse designation identifies the Edo Asakusa mint as the issuing facility for this particular die pairing.