<論説>江戸幕府元文の貨幣改鋳

Abstract

元禄・享保年間は近世貨幣経済の発展期であると共に、貨幣制度の混乱期であった。享保改革に於いては、通貨政策は最も難しい政治問題となったが、之につき、一般に貨幣史研究の立遅れの為に詳しい実情が知られて居ない。正徳の良貨鋳造による元禄宝永の悪貨整理方針、享保年間における此政策の継承強行は多くの波瀾を起したのであるが、元文に入って (即ち享保改革の後半期に) 正徳以来の政策が変更され、品位の劣れる元文金銀の鋳造を見るに至った。本稿はこの元文改鋳を取扱い、享保改革における貨幣問題研究の一端としようと志したものである。貨幣史研究の未熟を省みて今後の研究促進を期する為に、出来る限り事実を詳述し、物価との関係、貨幣経済発展における意義等の重要問題は後日の研究に譲ることとした。

The period from Genroku (元禄) to Kyoho (享保) saw the development of modern money economy, but it suffered from the confusion of coinage. Although the currency policy was the most complicated political problem at the Kyoho Reform (享保改革), details of it are still unknown because of the backwardness on the side of the research of Japanese coinage history in general. At any rate the continuous and strong policy at Shotoku (正徳) and Kyoho periods to replace with good coinage the bad one issued at Genroku and Hoei (宝永) periods resulted in many social troubles. At the Genbun period, i. e. the latter half of the Kyoho Reform, the policy above was changed, and gold and silver coins of bad quality came to be minted. This eassay on the reminting of coinage at the Genbun period is meant to be a contribution to the research of coinage problems at the Kyoho Reform. As the research of this field is still very backward in general, the author has tried to describe the facts as closely as possible and left the interpretation of the relation between the coinage and the prices at the period, the importance of this reform in the development of money economy etc. for his further study.