Old Taiwan dollar

Old Taiwan dollar
舊臺幣 (traditional Chinese)
Denominations
Symbol TW$
Banknotes 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10 000, 100 000 dollars
Demographics
Date of introduction 1946
Replaced Taiwanese yen
Date of withdrawal 1949
Replaced by New Taiwan dollar
User(s) Taiwan Taiwan Province, Republic of China
Issuance
Central bank Bank of Taiwan
 Website www.bot.com.tw
Printer China Engraving and Printing Works
 Website www.cepp.gov.tw
Valuation
Value TW$40 000 = NT$1
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The Old Taiwan dollar was in use from 1946 to 1949, beginning shortly after Taiwan's handover from the Japanese Empire to Nationalist China. The currency was issued by the Bank of Taiwan. Hyperinflation prompted the introduction of the New Taiwan dollar in June 1949, shortly before the Nationalist evacuation from mainland China in December.

History

Bearer's check of 1,000,000 Taiwan Dollars (TW$1,000,000) issued by the Bank of Taiwan. Hyperinflation led authorities to issue bearer's checks denominated at one million dollars in 1948.

Taiwan was under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945 and the colonial government of Taiwan issued Taiwanese yen during this period through the Bank of Taiwan. In 1945, after the Japanese Empire was defeated in World War II, Taiwan was handed over to the Republic of China (ROC). Within a year, the Nationalist government assumed control of the Bank of Taiwan and issued Taiwan dollars (also known as Taiwan Nationalist yuan or TWN) as a "provisional" replacement for the Taiwan yen at the rate of one to one. The new banknotes were initially printed in Shanghai, and were shipped to Taipei. After the Nationalists consolidated their control over Taiwan the banknotes were printed in Taipei. The currency was not subdivided (no cents), and no coins were issued.

Due to the Chinese Civil War in the late 1940s, Taiwan, like mainland China, suffered from hyperinflation. As inflation worsened, the government issued banknotes at higher and higher denominations, up to one million yuan. Because the inflation of the Taiwan dollar was only a side effect of the inflation of Chinese yuan of mainland China, it depreciated at a slower rate than the currency used on the mainland.

The Taiwan dollar was replaced by the New Taiwan dollar on June 15, 1949, at the rate of 1 new dollar to 40,000 old dollars. The Nationalists were defeated by the Communists in December of the same year and retreated to Taiwan. The government then declared in the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion that dollars issued by the Bank of Taiwan would become the new currency in circulation.[1]

Banknotes

The denominations of the Old Taiwan dollar in circulation were:

Orientation Value Dimensions Main Color Description Date of
Obverse Reverse printing issue
Horizontal Style Banknotes 1 dollar 130 × 70 mm Blue Sun Yat-sen, Bank of Taiwan, map of Taiwan Naval Battle Against the Dutch 1946 May 22, 1946
5 dollars 135 × 73 mm Red
10 dollars 141 × 77 mm Green-Gray
50 dollars 144 × 77 mm Brown September 1, 1946
100 dollars 154 × 82 mm Green
500 dollars 158 × 84 mm Red May 17, 1948
100 dollars 154 × 81 mm Green 1947 February 1, 1948
1000 dollars 158 × 86 mm Blue-Gray 1948 May 17, 1948
1000 dollars Sun Yat-sen, Bank of Taiwan, map of Taiwan, Sugarcane August 17, 1948
10 000 dollars 160 × 86 mm Dark Green December 11, 1948
10 000 dollars 143 × 67 mm Red Sun Yat-sen, map of Taiwan Bank of Taiwan 1949 May 17, 1949
100 000 dollars 146 × 63 mm Red Never
Vertical Style Bearer's Checks 5000 dollars 60 × 147 mm Orange Bank of Taiwan None (unifaced) None May 3, 1948
10 000 dollars 61 × 150 mm Blue June 1, 1948
100 000 dollars Red September 3, 1948
1 000 000 dollars Red-Brown December 1948

See also

References

  1. ↑ Chuang, Chi-ting (February 17, 2001). "Legislator pans new bank notes". Taipei Times. p. 4.
Preceded by:
Taiwan yen
Reason: Administration of Taiwan transferred to Republic of China
Ratio: at par		 Currency of Taiwan Province, Republic of China
1946 – 1949
Note: Taiwan dollar was initially intended to be a temporary and local currency		 Succeeded by:
New Taiwan dollar
Reason: inflation
Ratio: 1 new dollar = 40,000 old dollars
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