Item number: A1218

Year: AD 1541-1868

Material: Gold

Size: 13.8 x 13.8 mm

Weight: 3.65 g

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2024

This is a “Kō Shū Kin,” a gold coin that was in circulation from Japan’s Sengoku period through to the late Edo period, primarily used in Kō Shū. Its denomination, set according to its weight, is one Bu.

The obverse side of this gold coin is adorned with a dotted border, which not only serves as decoration but also functions as an anti-counterfeiting measure. On the left side of the obverse, the characters representing the production area “Kō Shū” are stamped, though they are somewhat unclear. On the right side, the denomination “1 Bu” is inscribed in a more legible cursive script. The reverse side of the coin features a faintly imprinted Japanese kanji character “Chū,” located at the centre.

This coin belongs to the “Taiko Koban” category, named after its resemblance to the traditional Japanese drum known as the “Taiko.” Due to the high quality and consistency of the “Taiko Koban,” it inspired the Japanese expression “太鼓判を捺す” (to stamp a seal as large as a taiko drum), which became a proverb used to describe something or someone’s quality or character as trustworthy and guaranteed.

Kainokuni, located in what is today Yamanashi Prefecture, was also known as Kōshū. Though much of its land consisted of barren hills, it was rich in gold deposits. During Japan’s Sengoku period, the famed warlord Takeda Shingen, often referred to as the “Tiger of Kai,” heavily invested in developing these local gold mines. He also recruited highly skilled metallurgists, establishing a gold exchange system based on weight, following a base-4 currency system: 1 Ryō = 4 Bu = 16 Shu = 64 Mome.

Even though the Takeda clan was ultimately defeated by Oda Nobunaga in AD 1582, the high-quality gold from Kōshū and the currency system instituted by Takeda Shingen were later adopted by the Tokugawa family, who went on to establish the Edo Shogunate.

物件編號: A1218

年代: 公元 1541-1868 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 13.8 x 13.8 mm

重量: 3.65 g

來源: 福君錢幣 2024

這是自日本的戰國時代沿用至江戶末期，於甲斐國流通使用的「甲州金」，其面額按照其重量為壹分。

這枚金幣正面周圍以珠圈為飾，同時具備防偽識別的功效。正面左側以不甚清晰的日本漢字打印出產地「甲州」花押，右側則是較為清晰的草書面額「壹分」。錢幣背後中央以日本漢字打印一個不甚清楚的戳記「忠」。

這枚錢幣形制屬於「太鼓判」，源於其外觀似日本樂器太鼓。由於「太鼓判」品質甚為穩定，還延伸出「太鼓判を捺す」(蓋下和太鼓一樣大的印章)，這句在日本形容品質或人格值得信任擔保的成語出現。

位於今日山梨縣一帶的甲斐國，又被稱作甲州，其領土多為貧脊的山丘卻坐擁豐富的金礦。因此在群雄並起的日本戰國時代，有「甲斐之虎」美名的豪雄武田信玄大力開發當地的金礦，更招募技術高超的冶工，確立以重量為依據的「1兩＝4分＝16朱＝64系目」四進位錢幣兌換制度。即使武田家終結於公元1582年織田信長的征討，但是甲州出產的高品質黃金和武田信玄奠定的四進位制度，仍為後世建立江戶幕府的德川家族採納。