Ōban
Appearance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Keicho_Oban_1601.jpg/220px-Keicho_Oban_1601.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Maneki-neko-ja.jpg/220px-Maneki-neko-ja.jpg)
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]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Keicho_gold_coinage_Oban_Koban_Ichibuban_1601_1695.jpg/220px-Keicho_gold_coinage_Oban_Koban_Ichibuban_1601_1695.jpg)
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
References
- Mark Metzler (2006). Lever of empire: the international gold standard and the crisis of liberalism in prewar Japan. Vol. Volume 17 of Twentieth Century Japan: The Emergence of a World Power. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24420-6.
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