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Coexistence · conversion · redemption

Meiji Transitional Currency

Old coins, notes, regional media, and early Meiji ryō issues coexisted while the government prepared and implemented the yen system.

明治移行期の貨幣

Core routes
15
Issue studies
12
Cleared image pairs
10
Indexable routes
27

Context

Historical and monetary setting

The Restoration did not instantly replace physical money. The government initially permitted a mixed legacy environment and later used law, mint production, exchange, and redemption to move toward decimal coinage.

Identification

How to classify the evidence

Treat legal adoption, effective exchange, local circulation, and final redemption as separate dates.

Evidence boundary

What this page does not claim

No single conversion or cutoff is assumed to have operated instantly nationwide.

Coexistence

Legacy-to-decimal transition records

FromToOfficial conversionStartEndRegional boundary
ryō / bu / shu, weighed silver, and monyen / sen / rinMultiple official valuations and exchange schedules; no single rule is asserted here for every legacy object18681879Legacy coin, note, and regional conditions differed
ryōyenThe yen replaced ryō-based accounting within the new decimal system; this record does not imply instant nationwide physical replacement1871-06-27Implementation depended on production and withdrawal of older media

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Related transition references

Evidence

Sources and scope

These links support the claims on this page. Source authority does not imply permission to republish source images.

History of Japanese Currency: Opening of the Country and Gold Outflow Bank of Japan Currency Museum

Treaty-port exchange, Mexican dollars, gold outflow, Man’en reform, transitional currency, and the 1871 decimal system.

Open source