Ōban

This article is about the Japanese coinage. For other uses, see Ōban (disambiguation).
The Ōban (大判) was the largest denomination, valued at 10 Ryōs. Here, a Keichō Ōban, minted from 1601.
Maneki Neko, with Ōban attached to collar

An Ōban (大判) was a monetary ovoid gold plate, and the largest denomination of Tokugawa coinage. Tokugawa coinage worked according to a triple monetary standard, using gold, silver and bronze coins, each with their own denominations.[1]

Keichō gold coinage: Ōban, Koban, Ichibuban, 1601–1695.

The first Oban – Tenshō Ōban (天正大判) – were minted by the Gotō family under the orders of Hideyoshi in 1588.[2]

The Tenshō Ōban was equivalent to ten Ryōs, or ten Koban (小判) plates, with a weight of 165 g.

Notes

  1. ^ Metzler p.15
  2. ^ The Cambridge History of Japan: Early modern Japan by John Whitney Hall p.61 [1]

References

  • Mark Metzler (2006). Lever of empire: the international gold standard and the crisis of liberalism in prewar Japan. Vol. 17 of Twentieth Century Japan: The Emergence of a World Power. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24420-6.