Gafu was an inscribed ivory tally split into halves, each of which was 13.6 cm round with one of the halves inscribed with 'Korean communication' in Tensho characters and the other half inscribed with the year issued '1474.'
牙符とは文字を刻んだ象牙を半割りにした割符であり、円周は四寸五分、片面に「朝鮮通信」と篆書体(てんしょ)で刻まれ、反対面には発給年次「成化十年甲午」と彫られていた。