Publications and Research

Spring 1997

The changing business activities of banks in Canada by Jim Armstrong Capacity constraints, price adjustment, and monetary policy by Tiff Macklem

Cover: Japanese oban

The Bank of Canada's National Currency Collection consists of more than 100,000 pieces of currency from various cultures and periods in world history. One of the most unusual and beautiful is this one.

Called an oban, meaning 'large stamp,' this piece measures 94 mm by 151 mm and resembles coins issued in Japan during the Tokugawa shogunate (17th to 19th centuries) as part of a national, standardized system of currency. These coins were usually flattened sheets of gold, decorated with horizontal striations and marked face and back with characters and symbols indicating the coin's denomination, metal, period of issue, and issuing authority. It has been suggested that their shape and striations mimic the straw bags that were used to carry rice in ancient Japan, where rice was not only an important foodstuff but also a commonly bartered commodity.

Unlike these coins, this piece is made of silver and bears no mark of value. Nevertheless, it shows good workmanship and is impressed with a number of 'official stamps.' The word oban appears at the top, and the mint signature/seal of the superintendent of the gold mint, Mitso Tsugu, is at the bottom. These same marks are found on early Japanese coins. Several heraldic devices called mon also decorate the piece. The 16-petalled chrysanthemum of the Imperial Family appears at the top and bottom, and three leaves of asarum in a circle, representing the Tokugawa family, are stamped to the left and right.

Why this particular oban was issued is not known. Perhaps it was for presentation purposes, or even as a collectors' piece.

Photography by James Zagon.