Tenpō ichibu gin (one-bu silver)
AD 1837–1854 ・ silver ・ 19th century ・ Edo silver mint
A counted silver coin issued in the eighth year of Tenpō. The fineness of the silver is close to 99 per cent, but the silver in it came to only 9 monme 2 bu per ryō: it was a token coin. Twenty cherry blossoms run around the edge. After the ports opened, an arrangement was made by which one foreign silver dollar exchanged for three ichibu-gin, and the gap between face and content became, just as it was, the doorway through which koban flowed out of the country.