Ōban

For the anime, see Ōban Star-Racers

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 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

References

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

Japanese currency Topics Bank of Japan Banknotes of the Japanese yen Japan Mint Japanese yen Japanese military yen Japanese invasion money National Printing Bureau Tokugawa coinage Scrip of Edo period Japan Coinage Rin 1r 5r Sen 1s 5s 10s 50s Yen ¥1 ¥5 ¥10 ¥50 ¥100 ¥500 ¥1000 ¥10,000 Other Ōban Koban Ichibuban Mon Ryō Wadōkaichin Banknotes Sen 5s 10s 50s Yen ¥1 ¥5 ¥10 ¥50 ¥100 ¥500 ¥1000 ¥2000 ¥5000 ¥10,000 Military A yen B yen