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Japan Ansei Chogin
日本 安政丁銀
Item number: A63
Year: AD 1859-1868
Material: Silver
Size: 92.48 x 30.79 mm
Weight: 147.05 g
Provenance: Auction World 2023
This artefact is an example of the Ansei Chogin, minted and issued during the Ansei era in Japan (AD 1859-1868). It is a form of metage silver coin, representing the final type of metage currency circulated during the Edo period in Japan.
The morphology of this Ansei Chogin is characterised by a flattened, bar-shaped silver ingot with circular seals at eacdh end bearing the character “政” (polity), serving as a symbol signifying its minting during the Ansei era.
In AD 1853, during the sixth year of the Kaei era, with the arrival of the Black Ships, Japan was compelled to open its ports, triggering disputes over currency exchange with Western nations.
The controversy caused domestic economic turbulence in Japan, prompting the shogunate to propose the issuance of a nominal currency known as Ansei Chogin as a solution to obtain recasting profits. However, the actual minting did not commence until six months later. Ansei Chogin had a silver content roughly equivalent to one Ichibugin per tael, becoming a distinctive silver coin during a specific period in Japanese history, reflecting the economic and monetary crisis of the time.
Black Ships: The name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries, also called 黒船 or Kurofune. 1. In the 16th century, Portuguese Carracks that went to Japan for trade, had the hull painted black with pitch, hence the name. 2. In the 19th century, warships of the United States Navy that went to Japan to force the trade with the west, had coal-fired steam engines that belched black smoke, hence the name.
In May of the fourth year of Keiō (AD 1868), the Meiji Restoration government promulgated the “Decree on the Abolition of Silver Standards,” resulting in the cessation of circulation for both the Chogin and Mameitagin.