| Samurai stipends in the Edo period were paid out in ''koku'', i.e. in rice. However, gold and silver coinage was used in everyday exchanges (especially among ''[[chonin|chônin]]''/commoners - peasants, merchants, artisans, etc.). In Edo, gold was more widely circulated, while in [[Kamigata]] (the Kyoto-Osaka area), silver was more commonly the mode of exchange. Gold was exchanged in relatively standardized coins issued by the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]], known as ''koban'', and worth one ''ryô'' apiece. | | Samurai stipends in the Edo period were paid out in ''koku'', i.e. in rice. However, gold and silver coinage was used in everyday exchanges (especially among ''[[chonin|chônin]]''/commoners - peasants, merchants, artisans, etc.). In Edo, gold was more widely circulated, while in [[Kamigata]] (the Kyoto-Osaka area), silver was more commonly the mode of exchange. Gold was exchanged in relatively standardized coins issued by the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]], known as ''koban'', and worth one ''ryô'' apiece. |