500 Mon Silver

Kyoto Prefecture issued this note in the immediate aftermath of the Meiji Restoration, when prefectural governments — still finding their footing under the new order — were authorized to emit their own paper currency to address acute local liquidity shortages. The result was a proliferation of hansatsu-style notes at the prefectural level, many technically redundant within months as the new central monetary framework tightened.

The sole security measure, an official seal, reflects how quickly these notes were produced. Authentication infrastructure simply didn't exist yet at the local level.