Coin Japan 4 Mon, Bunkyu Eiho, Cursive - 1863 / 1868 Asakusabashi

This 4 mon coin is a Bunky? Eih? (????) type coin, struck in cursive script (traditional H?) and produced at the Asakusa mint (Edo), in the region of present-day Tokyo, from 1863 until the end of the Edo period.

The minting period of this coin coincides with one of the most turbulent phases in Japanese history. Between the early 1860s and 1868, Japan experienced the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate, marked by deep internal tensions between supporters of the shogunate and forces in favour of restoring imperial power. The pressure exerted by Western powers, particularly following the unequal treaties imposed from 1858 onwards, fuelled a growing nationalist sentiment summed up by the slogan Sonn? J?i ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians"). Armed clashes broke out in several regions, and Edo (future Tokyo), the political centre of the shogunate and the place where this coin was produced, found itself at the heart of the upheaval.

This period came to an end in 1868 with the Meiji Restoration, which put an end to the shogunal regime and opened a phase of profound modernisation of Japan. This 4 mon coin thus represents one of the last monetary witnesses of the Japanese feudal order, before the monetary reform that led to the introduction of the yen system.