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Mameitagin 'Bunsei Mameitagin' 文 cluster
| Issuer | Tokugawa Shogunate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1820-1837 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Monme Silver / Monme-Gin / Ginme (1601-1874) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field dominated by a large, stylized kanji character 文 (Bun), denoting the Bunsei era, rendered in bold cursive script. Flanking the central character is a depiction of Daikoku, the deity of wealth, rendered in abbreviated pictorial form with his iconic wide-brimmed hat and mallet visible at upper left, and his treasure bag suggested at lower field. A crescent-shaped element appears to the right of the central inscription. The entire design is hammered in low relief onto the irregularly rounded billon flan, with a characteristically convex surface and lightly textured field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The entire reverse field is covered with a dense, repeated pattern of the kanji character 文 (Bun), arranged in multiple staggered rows across the convex flan. Approximately fourteen to sixteen individual impressions of the character are visible, each applied by repeated hammer strikes in a cursive style, creating an allover cluster pattern characteristic of Mameitagin coinage. The repetition of the era-name character served as an authentication and identification device. The flan surface shows the typical hammered texture of Edo-period bean silver coinage. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
The Bunsei Mameitagin was struck as part of a deliberate debasement policy — silver content dropped sharply from the preceding Bunka issue as the Shogunate struggled with chronic fiscal deficits and rising costs of domain administration. The 文 cluster stamp identifies the specific die grouping used for authentication, a practice the Edo mint employed to track production batches and deter counterfeiting of already-debased pieces.
Mameitagin circulated by weight, not face value, which meant merchants and money changers tested and restruck them constantly. Surviving examples with legible cluster stamps and minimal re-stamping damage are notably harder to find than raw mintage figures suggest.