1 Fen / Cent

The Bank of Taiwan's 1949 fen notes were issued in the immediate aftermath of the New Taiwan Dollar reform of June that year — the currency replacement that lopped four zeros off the collapsing Old Taiwan Dollar at a rate of 40,000 to 1. These tiny-denomination notes were a practical necessity: the new dollar needed fractional coinage, but metal was scarce and minting capacity limited, so paper filled the gap.

The Central Engraving and Printing Factory had only recently relocated to Taipei as Nationalist forces lost the mainland. Production circumstances were accordingly rough.