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5 Silver Monme private issue, Oono-gumi
| Issuer | Oono-gumi |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869 |
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| Currency | Monme Silver / Monme-Gin / Ginme (1601-1874) |
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| Obverse description | A vignette of Ebisu, one of the Seven Gods of Luck and patron deity of fishermen and tradesmen, occupies the upper portion of this narrow vertical note. The field carries hand-brushed vertical inscription columns in classical Japanese calligraphy, recording the denomination and the terms of the silver deposit obligation. The overall layout follows the handsatsu private scrip format common to late Edo and early Meiji merchant issues. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 巳己治明 大 野 組 橋杉平萩 下山野原 弥利助宗 兵三 一衛郎平 (Translation: Meiji era, year of the yīn earth snake (1869) Oono-gumi Sohei Hagiwara Sukesaburo Hirano Toshibei Sugiyama Yaichi Hashishita) |
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| Comments |
Oono-gumi was one of several private merchant associations operating exchange shops (*ryōgaeshō*) that briefly filled the credit vacuum left by Japan's chaotic monetary transition following the Meiji Restoration. The 1869 date places this squarely in the interregnum between the old Tokugawa silver weight system and the new decimal currency introduced by the 1871 New Currency Act — which is precisely why it is denominated in *monme*, a traditional mass unit for silver, rather than any standardized coin value.
Private fractional notes of this type were declared illegal shortly after 1871 and ordered redeemed, which drove most into destruction.