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'Tenpō Mameitagin' Large 寳
| Issuer | Tokugawa Shogunate Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1837-1858 |
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| Composition | Billon (.260 silver) |
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| Obverse description | Stylized hammered field bearing the seated figure of Daikoku, the deity of wealth, rendered in an abbreviated pictographic manner characteristic of Edo-period mameitagin coinage. The central field displays the character 保 (ho), denoting the Tenpō era, prominently struck in relief amid scattered globular pellets representing treasure or rice bales. The composition is enclosed within an irregular, convex planchet typical of hand-struck bean-shaped silver coinage, with the overall design applied through multiple die impressions producing overlapping elements. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain (irregular) |
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| Additional information |
Produced in response to a severe silver shortage during the Tenpō era, the mameitagin was an emergency measure — the Shogunate had already debased the standard ichibugin so aggressively that merchant confidence in official silver was near collapse. The irregular bean-shaped blanks were deliberately retained from older minting traditions to signal continuity with Edo-period precedent, even as the actual silver content bore almost no resemblance to earlier issues.
The "Large 寳" variety is distinguished by the size of the treasure character in the stamp, a die difference catalogued separately by Daizō Hartill precisely because multiple punch sets were in simultaneous use across the production run.