The was the currency of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from the Muromachi period in 1336 until the early Meiji period in 1870. It co-circulated with the new ''

sen Sen may refer to: Surname * Sen (surname), a Bengali surname * Şen, a Turkish surname * A variant of the Serer patronym Sène Currency subunit * Etymologically related to the English word ''cent''; a hundredth of the following currencies: ** ...

'' until 1891. The Kanji for ''mon'' is and the character for currency was widely used in the Chinese-character cultural sphere, e.g. Chinese wén, Korean mun, Vietnamese văn. Throughout Japanese history, there were many styles of currency of many shapes, styles, designs, sizes and materials, including gold, silver,

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

, etc. Coins denominated in mon were cast in copper or iron and circulated alongside silver and gold ingots denominated in ''shu'', ''bu'' and '' ryō'', with 4000 mon = 16 shu = 4 bu = 1 ryō. In 1869, due to depreciation against gold, the new fixing officially was set for 1 ryō/yen = 1,000 mon. The yen started to replace the old non-decimal denominations in 1870: in the 3rd quarter of 1870, the first new coins appeared, namely 5, 10, 50 sen silver and 2, 5, 10, 20 Yen. Smaller sen coins did not appear before spring, 1873. So the mon coins (1, 4, 100, 250 mon etc.) remained a necessity for ordinary peoples commodities and were allowed to circulate until 31st December 1891. From January 1, 1954, onward, the mon became invalid: postwar inflation had removed sen, mon etc. denominations smaller than 1 Yen. Due to the missing small coinage, the Japanese posts issued their first stamps (Meiji 4.3.1 / 1871.4.20) in mon and fixed postal rates in mon until April 1872 (Meiji 5.2.28). During the co-existence of the mon with the sen between 1870 and 1891, the metal content of the old currency became important. Official exchange for coins from 1871.6.27: 4 copper mon = 2 rin, 1 bronze mon = 1 rin (1 rin = 1/10 of a sen). So while not all mon were valued equally, their metal kind counted after the transition to decimal sen: bronze was valued more highly than copper. The first physical rin denomination was introduced in 1873 with the

1 rin coin The was a Japanese coin worth one one-thousandth of a Japanese yen, as 1 ''rin'' equalled sen, and 100 sen equaled 1 yen. While not in circulation any more, one rin coins are bought and sold by numismatists for academic study, and by those wi ...

(with the

5 rin coin The was a Japanese coin worth one two-hundredth of a Japanese yen, as 5 ''rin'' equalled sen, and 100 sen equaled 1 yen. These coins were a successor to the equally valued half sen coin which was previously minted until 1888. Overall, the hist ...

introduced in 1916), as until that time the rin had existed only as an accounting unit (10 rin = 1 sen). The most current coin, the '' Tenpō Tsūhō'' ( 天保通寶, a coin with a face value of 100 mon) was valued at only 8 rin (0.8 sen) in that sen period.

History

''Toraisen'', ''Shichūsen'', and ''Bitasen''

Though the production of copper, silver, and gold coins had already started in the eighth century, they weren't often used as a medium for exchange until later when the Japanese started importing Chinese coins, which replaced the Japanese

commodity currency A commodity currency is a currency that co-moves with the world prices of primary commodity products, due to these countries' heavy dependency on the export of certain raw materials for income. Commodity currencies are most prevalent in developin ...

economy. As internal trade grew due to agricultural and handicraft developments, the people started preferring coinage to barter, leading to a growth of demand for copper coins. The

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

prohibited the export of its coinage in 1179 due to its problem with the outflow of currency, but shiploads of Chinese coins would still enter Japan annually through Ningbo. There is evidence to suggest that the Yuan dynasty used to extensively export Chinese cash coins to Japan for local circulation. The

Sinan shipwreck Sinan (Arabic: سنان ''sinān'') is a name found in Arabic and Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions, Early Arabic, meaning ''spearhead''. The name may also be related to the Ancient Greek name Sinon. It was used as a male given name. Etymology Th ...

, which was a ship from Ningbo to Hakata that sank off the Korean coast in the year 1323, carried some 8,000

strings of cash coins A string of cash coins (Traditional Chinese: , , ; ) refers to a historical Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Ryukyuan, and Vietnamese currency unit that was used as a superunit of the Chinese cash, Japanese mon, Korean mun, Ryukyuan mon, and Vietna ...

, which weighed about . Since the trade had begun with Japan, and they received payment in Chinese coins for Japanese goods, they stopped minting their own copper coinage until 1587. The Ashikaga shogunate imported '' Kōbu Tsūhō'' (洪武通寶), '' Eiraku Tsūhō'' (永樂通寳), and ''Katei Tsūhō'' (嘉靖通寶) from the Ming dynasty, which they referred to as ''Toraisen'' or ''Minsen'' (), but the high demand for copper coinage inspired local and private production of copper coins (''Shichūsen'', ). An example of a ''Shichūsen'' used for trade with China and the Ryukyu Kingdom would be a ''Kōbu Tsūhō'' coin minted by

Satsuma domain The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, ...

which included the character “” (''Ji'') on the reverse indicating that it was minted at the town of Kajiki, while still using the inscription of the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

Ming China The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

. Some ''Shichūsen'' would also bear the inscriptions of coins from the Song dynasty, although it was not uncommon for many coins to simply be recasts and copies of older Song and Ming dynasty coins in the form of '' Iutsushi'' (鋳写し) or by simply adding extra carvings on existing circulating Chinese coins. ''Bitasen'' () refers to the ''Shichūsen'' coinage produced in Japan by the nobility and private local mints, and not by the imperial government or before the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate which were often poor in appearance, as well as damaged and worn out imported

Chinese coins Ancient Chinese coinage includes some of the earliest known coins. These coins, used as early as the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), took the form of imitations of the cowrie shells that were used in ceremonial exchanges. The ...

. Over time these coins would become damaged, and this made sellers more discriminating in what coins they would accept at face value, often accepting them only at ¼ of a good quality coin. Though Chinese coins would continue to circulate in Eastern Japan, the confusion and chaos caused by the ''Bitasen'' coinage caused rice to replace copper coinage in Western Japan. From 1608 onwards it was illegal to pay with ''Bitasen'', and the

shogunate , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

opened more mines for the production of copper, silver, and gold coinages. Despite this, however, ''Bitasen'' continued to circulate within Japan, but from 1670 the ''Eiraku Tsūhō'' was completely prohibited from circulation and depreciated in favour of the ''Kan'ei Tsūhō''.

''Kan'ei Tsūhō''

In 1636, the '' Kan'ei Tsūhō'' ( Kyūjitai: 寛永通寳 ; Shinjitai: 寛永通宝) coin was introduced by the government of the Tokugawa shogunate as a means to standardise copper coins and keep up a sufficient supply of copper coinage, being the first government minted copper coin in 700 years, despite this however they were introduced in the Mito domain 10 years prior during the 3rd year of the Kan'ei era. These coins would become the daily currency of the common people and would be used for small payments. Due to the isolationist policies of the Tokugawa shogunate, the outflow of currency halted and ''Kan'ei Tsūhō'' coins would continue to stay the main coin circulating in Japan. ''Kan'ei Tsūhō'' were minted for 230 years despite the fact that the Kan’ei era ended in 1643, and coins would continue to bear the ''Kan’ei'' legend, even when a new denomination of the coin was introduced a century later, though they weren't all uniform as the shogunate outsourced the mintage to regional and local merchants who would cast them at varying weights and sizes, as well as occasionally having local mint marks. By the 1650s 16 private mints were opened for the production of Kan'ei Tsūhō coins all over Japan. Kan'ei Tsūhō produced before 1688 are referred to as “old Kan’ei” and are recognisable by their similar calligraphic styles making them hard to differentiate from one another, meanwhile ''Kan'ei Tsūhō'' coins produced after 1688 (or “new Kan’ei” coins) tend to be more diverse in calligraphic styling, and the 4 mon denomination has waves on its reverse making it easily distinguishable from other coins. From 1738 the government authorised the manufacture of iron ''Kan'ei Tsūhō'' 1 mon coins, and in 1866 (just before the end of the Edo period) iron 4 mon ''Kan'ei Tsūhō'' were authorised. While iron coins were being minted, the quality of copper coins would decrease due to frequent debasements.

Export

As ''Bitasen'' coins were no longer allowed to circulate within Japan, Japanese traders started selling them on foreign markets for profits, especially on the Vietnamese market where a huge influx of ''Eiraku Tsūhō'' and ''Kan'ei Tsūhō'' coins from Japan made the Japanese mon the ''de facto'' currency of the region. The large export of Japanese coins to Vietnam during this period mostly happened on Red seal ships. From 1633 the Tokugawa government adopted the isolationist

Sakoku was the Isolationism, isolationist Foreign policy of Japan, foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of 265 years during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countri ...

policy. The Shogunate, however, opened up the seaport of Nagasaki to export with the Dutch East India Company and Chinese merchant ships from Southeast Asia. The Japanese merchants who were now prohibited from exporting mon coins directly to Vietnam used the Dutch traders as middlemen and exported, between 1633 and 1637, around 105,835 strings of 960 ''Eiraku Tsūhō'' and ''Kan’ei Tsūhō coins'' (or 101,600,640 mon) to Vietnam. From 1659 this continued with the

Nagasaki trade coins , also known as Nagasaki export coins, refer to Japanese Japanese mon (currency), mon coins specifically cast for export by the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa government between 1659 and 1685 during the Sakoku era. Though the inscriptions on the coi ...

which were specifically minted for foreign markets; this is why they were escribed with Song dynasty inscriptions as coins from the Song dynasty were already circulating in Southeast Asia and the populace had already become accustomed to them. The trade of mon coins stopped however after the Shogunate banned the export of copper in 1715.

Inflation during the Bakumatsu

In 1708 the Tokugawa shogunate introduced the ''Hōei Tsūhō'' ( Kyūjitai: 寳永通寳 ; Shinjitai: 宝永通宝) which had a face value of 10 mon (but contained 3 times as much copper as a 1 mon ''Kan’ei Tsūhō'' coin), which lead to the coin being discontinued very shortly after it started circulating as it wasn't accepted for its nominal value. However, in 1835 (during the Bakumatsu) the Tokugawa shogunate tried issuing a larger denomination copper coin again with the '' Tenpō Tsūhō'' 100 mon coin which this time only contained five and a half times the amount of copper in a 1 mon coin, but was accepted nonetheless. The introduction of this denomination caused large scale inflation comparable to that of caused by the 100 wén coin minted by the Qing dynasty in 1853, or the 100 mun coin issued by the Kingdom of Joseon in 1866. The reason for the change in mentality was the scarcity of copper which had earlier forced the Japanese to mint iron coins breaking the previously established tri-metallic system. The concurrent circulation of 1, 4, and (heavily debased) 100 mon coins caused for a chaotic reaction from the market, as did widespread circulation of forged coinage. Another major cause for inflation was that from 1859 local Daimyō started minting their own coinage often with high denominations to increase the money supply or to get more gold and silver for their low copper supplies. In 1862 this inspired Daimyō Shimazu Nariakira to produce ''Tenpō Tsūhō'' derivatives in the form of 100 on '' Ryūkyū Tsūhō'' coins and even ½ Shu ''Ryūkyū Tsūhō'' coins under the pretence of minting coins for their vassal Ryukyu Kingdom, this proved profitable for the

Stringing of coins

Mon coins were holed, allowing them to be strung together on a piece of string. In the Edo period of Japan (1615-1868), stringed together coins received a small discount when presented like this. For example, for 100 Mon payment: if those 1 Mon coins were all tied in a row, discount given was 4 mon, so 96 stringed coins of 1 mon were accepted at par with 100 mon. Similar discounts existed probably for other bulk payments with small coinage in stringed form.

List of Japanese mon coins

During the history of the Japanese mon, many coins with different inscriptions were cast. The main coins cast by the central government were: Many Japanese domains produced their own currency, which happened chaotically, so that the nation's money supply expanded by 2.5 times between 1859 and 1869, leading to crumbling money values and soaring prices. Japan Currency Museum (日本貨幣博物館) permanent exhibit These coins were often produced with the name of the domain or province on them. The mon coins produced by domains are:

History

''Toraisen'', ''Shichūsen'', and ''Bitasen''

''Kan'ei Tsūhō''

Export

Inflation during the Bakumatsu

Stringing of coins

List of Japanese mon coins

See also

Currencies with the same etymology

Notes

References

Further reading