Japanese Shogun Era Coin Ring 14Kt

Japanese Silver Isshu Gin Coin ring  Circa 1846 - 1867. Ruler: Emperor Komei - the last of the Shogunate imperial rulers. Mint: Tokyo; Country: Japan. Framed in 14Kt yellow gold square ring with 10 diamonds totaling .20tw.  Certificate of Authenticity. 17mm x 12mm coin in bezel. 7mm wide shank. Stock size 7.25 can be sized.

The Tokugawa Shogunate was a military dictatorship that had experienced relative peace within Japan for over 250 years. They had acheived this by freezing the social order and prohibiting mobilty between the classes as they ran the country with the use of the Samurai, the aristocratic warriors (bushi). These rectangular coins were miinted during the final years of the Tokugawa Shogunate reign which ended in 1867 with the death of Emperor Komei. Although the coins of this kind can be identified to the reign of a particular ruler, the the actual date, in most instances can only be determined by the period of that Emperor's rule. This is among some of the only rectangular coinage minted in history.

On July 8, 1853, during the reign of Japan's Emperor Komei,  Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States Navy, sailed into the fortified harbour of Uraga aboard the frigate Susquehanna along with a squadron of two steamers and two sailing vessels. Calling himself an “admiral,” he refused to obey Japanese orders to leave and sent word that if the government did not delegate a suitable person to receive the documents in his possession, he would deliver them by force if necessary. The Japanese, were split- those that wanted commerce with the rest of the world, and those of the Tokugawa Shogunate, including Emperor Komei, that wanted things to stay the same.

The ruling Shogunate, who were aware of China’s recent defeat by the technologically superior Western powers in the Opium War (1839–42), decided to agree to Perry’s terms as a way of stalling for time while they improved their defenses, but their tactics proved futile.  In February 1854 he reappeared in Edo (modern Tokyo) Bay—this time with nine ships—and on March 31 concluded the Treaty of Kanagawa, the first treaty between the two countries. The pact assured better treatment of shipwrecked seamen, permitted U.S. ships to obtain fuel and supplies at two minor ports, arranged for a U.S. consul to reside at Shimoda, and opened the way for further U.S. trading privileges. Perry’s success demonstrated the inability of the Shogun, Japan’s hereditary military dictator, to enforce his country’s traditional isolationist policy; the Japanese were soon forced to sign similar treaties with other Western nations. These events contributed to the collapse of the shogunate and ultimately to the modernization of Japan.