The Story of How Currency from a Defunct Nation Won: The Surprising True Nature of 'Trust' Taught by the History of Copper Coins
Hello.
I am Shimpei Adachi, Representative of Springboard Co., Ltd.
Money issued by a country that collapsed 250 years ago continued to be used for a long time afterward. Why was that?
Thinking about it normally, it is an impossible story. Money whose issuer has vanished should just be a piece of metal. If a company goes bankrupt, its gift certificates become worthless paper. It should be the same thing.
However, history leaves a record of the 'impossible' continuing for several hundred years.
And when you think about this story carefully, it is actually connected to our own concepts of 'trust' and 'brand'.
📖 Today, I am sharing what I learned from this book.
This book is incredibly interesting.
It was a volume that made me rethink 'what money is' from the roots.
🏯 The 'Currency of a Fallen Nation' That Lived for 500 Years
From the 12th to the 17th century, copper coins minted by the Northern Song dynasty in China were widely used across the Japanese archipelago.
(Image: Wikipedia)
However, the Northern Song had long since perished.
Since it was a dynasty that was established in the 10th century and fell in the 12th, by the time these coins were being used in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, they were already 'relics' from several hundred years prior.
Yet, people gladly accepted these old copper coins.
Furthermore,the old Song coins were traded at a higher value than newly minted coins.
'Good money is not driven out'—this is the title of the first chapter of this book.
It is a phenomenon completely opposite to the famous Gresham's Law, which states that 'bad money drives out good'.
People could distinguish the quality of old coins by the hue of the bronze and the stability of their weight.
That is why people actively chose them.
The nation that issued them no longer exists.
No one was saying, 'You must use these coins.'
And yet, they continued to function as the backbone of the economy for 500 years.
Why?
The answer is simple.
Because the mutual expectation that 'the person next to me will also accept these coins' never broke.
The source of trust lay not in the authority of the issuer, but in the consensus of those who accepted it.
This fact hits home for us in the modern day as well.
🌍 The Maria Theresa Thaler—Money of a Dead Empress Circulating the World
It wasn't just Northern Song coins.
There is another surprising example.
Maria Theresa, the Empress of Austria, died in 1780.
Silver coins bearing her portrait were used as active currency in the Middle East and East Africa, far from her home country,circulating until the early 20th century.
(Image https://x.gd/aGZiy)
It was so convenient that the governments of Britain, France, and Italy all joined in toofficially mint 'replicas of the Maria Theresa Thaler', leading to a truly bizarre situation.
A nation copying the money of another country, and a long-dead monarch at that.
If you think about it normally, it makes no sense.
But rather than ignoring the currency already in use on the ground and forcing new money on people,it was more rational to ride on 'what everyone already accepts'.
💡 A Brief Theoretical Introduction 💡
🌐 Network Externalities
Goods like currency, social media, and communication standards, wherethe value per person increases as more people use them, are called 'network goods.'
Northern Song coins and Maria Theresa Thalers maintained their value even after their issuers disappeared because they possessed vast acceptance networks in the East China Sea, the Middle East, and Africa.
The value of a platform is not determined by the operating company, but bythe breadth of the participants' network—this is exactly that principle.
📱 The Death of T-Point—When There Is No One to Accept It, Currency Ends
Now, let's talk about modern times.
T-Point was once even called a 'second currency.'
It was that point system with about 70 million members that could be used at convenience stores and gas stations all over Japan.
The issuer, CCC (Culture Convenience Club), was still going strong.
The system was running, and there were members.
And yet, in 2024, T-Point was integrated into V-Point, ending its history as a brand.
What happened?
FamilyMart shifted its focus to its own points, and Yahoo! withdrew to PayPay points.
'The shops that accept this money' left one after another.
It is the exact reverse of the Northern Song coin scenario.
Northern Song coins, whose network survived even after the issuer perished,circulated for 500 years.
T-Point, whose network weakened even though the issuer was alive,disappeared in 21 years.
What needed to be protected was not the 'substance' but the 'network'. It was.
Don't you think this story applies directly to organizations and teams as well?
For example, suppose a company introduces a new evaluation system.
The management is convinced that 'this will make things fair.'
The design is perfect.
The logic holds up.
But what happens if the members on the ground feel that 'that system doesn't match reality'?
The official evaluation system becomes a mere shell, andthe implicit evaluation criteria actually used on the groundbegin to hold more power.
It is exactly the same composition as when the Yuan Dynasty forced paper currency upon the people and the market rejected it.
No matter how magnificent the policies the bosses put forward, if the members on the ground do not accept them as 'workable,' those policies will not circulate.
The value of systems and rules alsoonly holds true when there is consensus from those who use them.
🎯 Why did Northern Song coins become the 'standard'?
Here is another interesting question.
In medieval East Asia, countless copper coins were in circulation.
Tang coins, Song coins, Yuan coins, Vietnamese coins...
Among them,why were only Northern Song coins chosen as the 'standard'?
They were the most numerous, of the highest quality, and had the longest history.
In other words,'a landmark that everyone could expect others to converge on'was the reason.
💡 A Brief Theoretical Introduction 💡
🎯 Focal Point
This is a concept proposed by Thomas Schelling, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics.
In situations where you cannot coordinate with the other party in advance,'people naturally converge on points where they can expect the other party to choose as well'is the theory.
For example, if someone says, 'Let's meet somewhere in Tokyo tomorrow,' many people think of Tokyo Station.
It is not rationality, but 'prominence' that determines the equilibrium. This dynamic is why Northern Song coins became the standard, and why industry standards and de facto standards are determined.
🔍 Who decides 'what kind of business you are'?
Lately, I have been thinking about something.
'What kind of business am I?'
A training instructor?
A human resources development consultant?
None of them feel quite right.
For now, the one that fits best is “A purveyor of the joy of learning” I think.
But am I really the one deciding that?
The other day, when I was speaking at a training session, a participant said this to me:
“I heard you speak at another training session last year, and I still use the framework you introduced back then.”
To be honest, I didn't intend to push that framework that hard myself.
But, the person who received it found value in it and incorporated it into their own work.
I thought, this is exactly like the Northern Song coins.
It is not that the name “Adachi” has value.
The judgments and actions of the people who received it in the past and thought “this is useful” are what create my work today.
Perhaps what determines my value is not myself, but the network of “people who have received it.”
The other day, my beloved Galaxy Watch was updated without me noticing, and it started “visualizing” things like my antioxidant index and vascular load.
When you can see the numbers, you want to improve them.
The “senzeni” (coin selection) where people sorted through old coins in the era of copper coins is the same, isn't it?
When quality becomes visible, people naturally choose the good ones.
Is the quality of my work in a state where it is “visible”?
That might be the condition for creating a currency that will be accepted for a long time.
🏢 For leaders to cultivate “trust”
I will summarize what the history of copper coins teaches us from the perspective of a frontline leader.
📌 Trust is not something you “issue,” but something that is “accepted”
No matter how correct the rules or policies are, they will not circulate if the members do not feel they are “valid.”
The first step is to look at the gap between official systems and the value standards that actually function on the front lines.
📌 What should be protected is not the “system itself,” but the “network of people who use it”
This is the lesson of T-Points.
It is not enough to just create a system; you mustmaintain the relationships with the people who continue to participate in that system.
Team trust is nurtured not by rules, but by the accumulation of daily mutual expectations.
📌 Have one 'prominent reference point'
This is the concept of a focal point.
Even if a team has ten behavioral guidelines, members will still be confused.
Createone point of convergencethat defines your team.
Just as Northern Song coins became the standard among countless other coins, planting a simple flag that everyone can point to will stabilize your team's currency.
What the copper coins from 1,000 years ago taught us was surprisingly simple.
Trust is not something you issue; it is whether or not it is accepted.
Titles and authority are like the face value of money.
What is important is tosteadily protect the state where those around you acknowledge that the face value 'truly has that much worth'.
You don't need to do anything special starting tomorrow; just take one small step every day that makes people think, 'I will accept what this person says.'
That might be the way to create a currency that lasts for 500 years.
Thank you for reading again today.
Your likes and comments are always encouraging.
🎦Audio/Video commentary/Slide materials are here (NotebookLM)
📎 Related articles are here
Why Starbucks employees don't quit: The reason why organizations without manuals are the strongest
Principles, not rules.
Do not restrict behavior; cultivate judgment.
If this story about copper coins is about 'trust accepted by people,' this article is about 'principles that continue to be used in the field.'
I think these themes are connected in that things rooted in on-site judgment, rather than systems or manuals, hold true power.
📕 My book: 'What People Who Get Results from Their First Year as a Leader Do'
I have compiled practical ideas for the field, including 'how to build trust' as a leader.
👉 Click here for the Amazon page
🎓 I also publish training content on Udemy
👉 Click here for the Udemy page