Item number: A315

Year: AD 1837-1858

Material: Silver

Size: 88.5 x 31.2 x 8.3 mm

Weight: 133.6 g

Provenance: Heritage Auctions 2024

This object is a Tempo Chogin minted and issued during the Tempo era (AD 1837-1858). Tempo Chogin represents a type of metage silver coin characterized by an irregular, oval-shaped chunk of silver ingot. The obverse side features six stamps, with two additional “保” (bao) stamps positioned near both tips. The reverse side is blank.

During the Bunka period, profits from the recoinage (re-minting profits) continued to be squandered by the extravagance of Tokugawa Ienari, causing further financial hardship for the shogunate, compounded by the great famine of Tempo, which began around the fourth year of Tempo (AD 1833). As a solution to this financial crisis, in order to strengthen the shogunate’s reserves through the acquisition of recoinage profits, a comprehensive recoinage of currency, including the lowering of the quality of coins, was conducted in the eighth year of Tempo (AD 1837), with the establishment of a new Ichibugin, in addition to the Koban.

While this recoinage enabled the accumulation of gold and silver weights in the Edo Castle Treasury, it was only a temporary stopgap measure and led to adverse effects such as inflation, contradicting the aims of the Tempo reforms. Consequently, on September 10, AD 1843, under the directive of Mizuno Tadakuni, the minting of Tempo Koban and silver was temporarily halted. However, it resumed on September 13, AD 1844 for the sake of fiscal reconstruction.

During the Bunsei era, prices were relatively stable, but with the onset of the Tempo era, alongside famine, there was a noticeable decline in the silver content of currency, contributing to inflation. Moreover, the circulation of nominal currency, such as counted coins, increased significantly, with counted silver coins like Ichibugin issued in large quantities taking a substantial share. This trend diminished the circulation and importance of weighed silver coins, replaced by domain notes and similar alternatives. 

物件編號: A315

年代: 公元 1837-1858 年

材料: 銀

尺寸: 88.5 x 31.2 x 8.3 mm

重量: 133.6 g

來源: 海瑞得拍賣行 2024

這件物品是一枚天保丁銀，鑄造並發行於天保時代（西元1837-1858年）。天保丁銀是一種計重銀幣，呈現為不規則的橢圓形銀錠。正面顯示六個印章，兩個額外的「保」印章位於兩端附近。背面則是空白的。

文政時期，由於德川家持續濫用貨幣重鑄以賺取利潤，使幕府陷入財政困境，天保大飢荒更使情況雪上加霜，該大飢饉始於天保四年（公元1833年）。作為對這一財政危機的解決方案，為了通過獲取再鑄收益來加強幕府的儲備，於天保八年（公元1837年）進行了貨幣的全面再鑄，包括降低硬幣品質，並創設了新的一分銀以及小判。

雖然這一再鑄使得江戶城御金庫的金銀積累增加，但僅為一時之措施，並導致通脹等負面影響，違背了天保改革的目標。因此，根據水野忠邦的命令，於公元1843年9月10日暫停了天保小判及銀的鑄造，但於公元1844年9月13日為了財政重建再次恢復。

在文政時期，物價相對穩定；然而隨著天保時期的到來及其間的飢荒，貨幣的銀含量出現明顯下降，加劇了通脹壓力。此外，計算貨幣的流通量顯著增加，尤其是大量發行的一分銀，使計量銀幣的流通和重要性逐漸下降，這些被諸侯票據和其他替代品所取代。