Old Taiwan dollar

The Old Taiwan dollar was in use from 1946 to 1949, beginning shortly after Taiwan's handover from Japan to the Republic of 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.

Old Taiwan dollar

舊臺幣 (Chinese)
Unit
Unit	yuan (圓)
Plural	The language(s) of this currency do(es) not have a morphological plural distinction.
Symbol	TW$‎
Denominations
Banknotes	1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10000, 100000, 1000000 dollars
Demographics
Date of introduction	1946
Replaced	Taiwanese yen
Date of withdrawal	1949
Replaced by	New Taiwan dollar
User(s)	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.

Old Taiwan dollar
Traditional Chinese	舊臺幣
Simplified Chinese	旧台币
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiùtáibì Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Khìu-thòi-pi Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kū-tâi-pē Tâi-lô Kū-tâi-pē

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 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 the then 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 15 June 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.

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	22 May 1946
	5 dollars	135 × 73 mm	Red
	10 dollars	141 × 77 mm	Green-Gray
	50 dollars	144 × 77 mm	Brown				1 September 1946
	100 dollars	154 × 82 mm	Green
	500 dollars	158 × 84 mm	Red				17 May 1948
	100 dollars	154 × 81 mm	Green			1947	1 February 1948
	1000 dollars	158 × 86 mm	Blue-Gray			1948	17 May 1948
	1000 dollars			Sun Yat-sen, Bank of Taiwan, map of Taiwan, Sugarcane			17 August 1948
	10 000 dollars	160 × 86 mm	Dark Green				11 December 1948
	10 000 dollars	143 × 67 mm	Red	Sun Yat-sen, map of Taiwan	Bank of Taiwan	1949	17 May 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	3 May 1948
	10 000 dollars	61 × 150 mm	Blue				1 June 1948
	100 000 dollars		Red				3 September 1948
	1 000 000 dollars		Red-Brown				December 1948

See also

• Economy of Taiwan
• History of Taiwan
• History of the Republic of China
• Political status of Taiwan
• New Taiwan dollar

External links

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