Global Money Week – “From Barter to Banknotes” - Emergency money. This 1944 Japanese 1 Sen "Clay Coin" is a haunting testament to the desperation of a collapsing empire. By the end of World War II, Japan had been stripped of all strategic metals—copper, nickel, and even aluminum—to feed its failing military machine. In a last-ditch effort to keep the domestic economy from reverting to total barter, the government turned to baked clay (ceramic) to produce currency. They were an experimental necessity, born from a reality where metal was more precious than the denomination stamped upon it. Most were crushed or discarded at the end of the war, as they were never officially released into circulation, making this surviving specimen an incredibly rare artifact. It serves as a powerful lesson for Global Money Week: when a state loses the physical resources to back its currency, money returns to its most primitive, fragile form. It is the ultimate symbol of the "Scarcity Economy" and the total breakdown of modern industrial finance. 1944 1 Sen Clay coin Experimental issue Never released to circulation Rare and fine NIce and unique specimen. ----- This lot is part of the thematic auction “From Barter to Banknotes”, organised in celebration of Global Money Week (16–22 March). Global Money Week is an international initiative coordinated by the OECD that promotes financial education and helps young people better understand money, savings, and economic systems. Through this curated selection of objects - from early trade items and proto-currencies to historic coins and modern banknotes - we explore the fascinating evolution of money and the many forms it has taken across cultures and centuries.