When the Tenmei Famine occurred in 1784, the Sendai Domain used this Famine as an opportunity and petitioned the bakufu to grant a permission to mint the Sendai Domain's own currency in order to save people in the domain's territory, and the domain received the permission to mint their own currency called Sendai Tsuho.
また天明4年（1784年）に起こった天明の大飢饉を契機に領内救済を理由に、同年11月に仙台藩が幕府に鋳造を申し出、許可を取り付けた仙台通宝。