The Bank of Japan Silver-convertible Note (日本銀行兌換銀券)
Date
1885
Credits
- Edoardo Chiossone 3 Designer
Format
- Currency 24
Media
- paper 1703
Techniques
- printmaking 39
Dimensions
135 × 73 mm
Locations Made
- Japan 376
In 1882, the Japanese government established a national bank called Nippon Ginkou (日本銀行). The Bank of Japan issued its first banknote, the Bank of Japan Silver Convertible Note (日本銀行兌換銀券), in 1885. It was designed by Edoardo Chiossone. These bills could be exchanged for silver coins. The Japanese government tried to organize the value of money by this. The unique feature of this bill was that it was printed using blue ink, which was difficult to capture in photographs of the time. This was done to prevent the creation of counterfeit bills. Four types of banknotes were issued: 1 yen, 5 yen, 10 yen, and 100 yen. You can use 1 yen still today.
最初の日本銀行券 日本銀行兌換銀券（だかんぎんけん） 旧券10円