Old Taiwan dollar

Old Taiwan dollar
舊臺幣
Central bank	Bank of Taiwan
Website	www.bot.com.tw
User(s)	Taiwan
Symbol	TW$
Coins	None
Banknotes	1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10 000, 100 000 dollars
Printer	China Engraving and Printing Works
Website	www.cepp.gov.tw
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 the 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$1000000) 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.

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

• 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