Dutch East India Company coin. Gold Koban coin, Japan, countermarked for use in Indonesia. Dated 17th Century. (Photo by: Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The koban gold coin (not to be confused with koban meaning police box) was an Edo Period Japanese flat, thinly beaten coin, oval in shape.
The gold koban were produced from metal mined from Sado Gold Mine on Sado Island and each koban was equal in value to one ryo, which in turn was equal to three koku of rice – a koku being the estimation of rice needed to feed one person for one year (about 150kg).
The Tokugawa currency gradually became debased over the centuries leading to inflation, which was one of the reasons the Tokugawa regime was in deep financial trouble by the time Commodore Perry arrived in 1853. The koban was replaced in the Meiji Period with the Yen based on Western standards.
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