'Tenpō Mameitagin' small 保 character(s)

The Tenpō Mameitagin was struck by the Tokugawa shogunate's silver za as a regional trade currency for western Japan, where silver was the dominant medium of exchange in contrast to the gold-based economy of Edo. The irregular, hand-struck form was deliberate — each piece was weighed individually in transactions rather than counted, a practice that had persisted in Osaka merchant culture for centuries.

The small 保 character variety is distinguished by a die-punch detail, not a separate issue. The dramatically debased silver content relative to earlier mameitagin reflects the shogunate's mounting fiscal pressure through the 1840s and 1850s.