Old Taiwan dollar
舊臺幣 (Chinese)
Unit
SymbolTW$‎
Denominations
Banknotes1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10 000, 100 000 dollars
Demographics
Date of introduction1946
ReplacedTaiwanese yen
Date of withdrawal1949
Replaced byNew Taiwan dollar
User(s)Taiwan Taiwan Province, Republic of China
Issuance
Central bankBank of Taiwan
 Websitewww.bot.com.tw
PrinterChina Engraving and Printing Works
 Websitewww.cepp.gov.tw
Valuation
ValueTW$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

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.

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.[citation needed] 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.[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 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

References

  1. ^ Chuang, Chi-ting (February 17, 2001). "Legislator pans new bank notes". Taipei Times. p. 4. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2006.

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
Historical currencies of Taiwan
Currencies of China
Currencies named dollar or similar
Economy of Taiwan
Categories