kenji-kin

Updated: July 12, 2026

These new tokens were called kenji-kin, as they bore on the reverse the ideograph ken, signifying "great original." The issue of the new coins took place in the year 1710, and at the same time the daimyo were strictly forbidden to issue paper currency, which veto also was imposed at the suggestion of Arai Hakuseki.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era