-
@ Matt
2025-05-14 08:00:06
Visited the facinating currency museum of the Bank of Japan in Tokyo.
Unfortunately you’re not allowed to take pictures during the visit. But the audio guide is here:
https://mguide.jp/2/kahei01?lang=en#/
Very cool-looking oval-shaped coins (oban) during the shogunate and progressive reduction of gold content from 18g in 1601 to 2g in 1869. [audio 20]
Money printing during the civil war following the transition to the Meiji period, leading to inflation. [audio 44]
Introduction of the yen in gold coins (the 20-yen gold coin looked awesome, straight out of John Wick).
Introduction of a gold standard in 1897, abandoned in 1931. [audio 52]
Examples of hyperinflations [audio 55]:
“Historically, hyperinflations emerged when a central bank lent too much money to the government or governmental institutions”