reaction from the market, as did widespread circulation of forged coinage. Another major cause for inflation was that from 1859 local Daimyō started minting their own coinage often with high denominations to increase the money supply or to get more gold and silver for their low copper supplies. In 1862 this inspired Daimyō Shimazu Nariakira to produce Tenpō Tsūhō derivatives in the form of 100 on Ryūkyū Tsūhō coins and even ½ Shu Ryūkyū Tsūhō coins under the pretence of minting coins for their vassal Ryukyu Kingdom, this proved profitable for the Satsuma domain. Stringing of coins Mon coins were holed, allowing them to be strung together on a piece of string. In the Edo period of Japan (1615-1868), stringed together coins received a small discount when presented like this. For example, for 100 Mon payment: if those 1 Mon coins were all tied in a row, discount given was 4 mon, so 96 stringed coins of 1 mon were accepted at par with 100 mon. Similar discounts existed probably for other bulk payments with small coinage in stringed form. List of Japanese mon coins During the history of the Japanese mon, many coins with different inscriptions were cast. The main coins cast by the central government were: Many Japanese domains produced their own currency, which happened chaotically, so that the nation's money supply expanded by 2.5 times between 1859 and 1869, leading to crumbling money values and soaring prices. These coins were often produced with the name of the domain or province on them. The mon coins produced by domains are: See also Wadōkaichin Economy of Japan Japanese numismatic charm Currencies with the same etymology Chinese wen Korean mun Vietnamese văn Ryukyuan mon Notes References Further reading Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652]. Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon.] Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. ... Click for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French). David Hartill (2011). Early Japanese Coins. New Generation Publishing. Ancient currencies Medieval currencies Modern obsolete currencies Coins of Japan Cash coins ja:文 (通貨単位)