Bartering with rice and cloths as standards was still the main method of obtaining necessary materials at the time in Japan; therefore, Wado-kaichin did not circulate as the currency well in Japan except in the Kinai region and its surrounding area.
当時の日本はまだ米や布を基準とした物々交換の段階であり、和同開珎は、貨幣としては畿内とその周辺を除いてあまり流通しなかったとされる。