Is the Three-tier Metal Standard a Distinctive Character of the Currency System in the Edo Period?

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Other Title
  • 比較経済史からみた三貨制の意義と特色
  • ヒカク ケイザイシ カラ ミタ サンカセイ ノ イギ ト トクショク

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Description

The currency system in the Edo period is commonly referred to as the three-tier metal standard because three types of metal coins – gold, silver and copper coins were all used simultaneously as currency or the legal tender. We examine this from the perspective of comparative history and find that it is not a necessarily distinctive character of the Edo currency system since such a character of currency circulation is also observed in European countries and India in the 17-19th centuries. As an alternative we present another hypothesis that metal coins in the Edo period were distinct in that they were not constructed as full-bodied commodity money, while in European countries and India gold and silver coins were minted as full-bodied. This difference is derived from the monopoly of gold and silver bullion by the Tokugawa government and the long-term use of copper coins as currency in measuring and settling monetary transactions from the 13th century.

Journal

  • 經濟學論叢

    經濟學論叢 57 (4), 151-172, 2006-03-20

    The Doshisha Economic Association

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