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Mameitagin 'Genroku Mameitagin' 元 around 寳
| Issuer | Japan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1695-1706 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered (bean) |
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| Obverse description | Irregular hammered silver flan bearing a centrally stamped large Chinese character 寳 (treasure/hō), surrounded by a cluster of smaller 元 (gen) characters repeated at multiple positions around the central device, all applied by hand stamp in the characteristic mameitagin bean-silver tradition. The characters are rendered in a bold, archaic seal-script style with shallow relief on the irregular convex surface. On certain examples, the additional inscription 常是 (Tokize, denoting the Tokize mint assay authority) may appear vertically to the right of the central character. The overall field is rough and uneven, consistent with the hand-hammered production technique of the Edo period silver coinage. |
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| Obverse lettering | 元 元 寳 元 (Translation: Gen Gen Treasure Gen) |
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| Additional information |
The Genroku Mameitagin was issued in 1695 as part of a deliberate debasement policy ordered by the fifth Tokugawa shogun, Tsunayoshi. The silver content was cut from the near-pure .800 of the earlier Keichō mameitagin to .640, while the nominal value was maintained — a move that generated substantial seigniorage revenue for a bakufu treasury strained by Tsunayoshi's extravagant spending. The public recognized the debasement almost immediately, and merchants began discounting the new coins in transactions.
Production ran only eleven years before the Hōei recoinage of 1706 pulled them from circulation.