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Shu Gold
| Issuer | Daijo-kan (Grand Council of State) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1868 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 慶應戊辰 通用十三年限 |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Oval red ink official government seal hand-applied to the reverse. |
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| Comments |
The Daijo-kan notes of 1868 were among the first paper instruments issued under the new Meiji government, rushed out as the administration urgently needed to finance military operations against Tokugawa holdouts — most critically the Boshin War, which was still being fought when these notes entered circulation. The government had almost no experience managing a paper currency at national scale, and public confidence was thin. Metallic coinage, particularly gold and silver, remained the preferred medium among merchants.
The "Shu" denomination is a subdivision rooted in the old Edo-period gold coinage system — its use here reflects the awkward transitional moment when the Meiji reformers were grafting new fiscal machinery onto deeply familiar weight-based monetary units before the sen-and-yen decimal system was formally introduced in 1871.