Hansatsu exchange and currency unification in the early Meiji period

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Other Title
  • 藩札の整理をめぐって : 明治初年における通貨統合の一側面
  • ハンサツ ノ セイリ オ メグッテ : メイジ ショネン ニオケル ツウカ トウゴウ ノ イチソクメン

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Abstract

At the beginning of the Meiji period, hansatsu, a form of paper money issued by the local clan government in the Edo period, were still used as a medium of exchange. Therefore, exchanging them for the new unified currency was a critical and urgent task for the government. This paper aimed to quantitatively examine this exchange process and clarified the following facts: (a) The exchange price of each hansatsu was set according to the local exchange rate in terms of gold, silver, and copper coins. (b) For the hansatsu denominated by copper and silver coins and whose value exceeded a specific level, an exchange price of 8 rin per 100 mon was set; such hansatsu accounted for 85% of the total. (c) The above price was lower than the market price by approximately 20%–30%. This resulted in the reduction of the hansatsu-based debts from \3,855millin to \2,493million.

Journal

  • 經濟學論叢

    經濟學論叢 62 (1-2), 35-79, 2010-09-20

    The Doshisha Economic Association

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