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10 Yen
| Issuer | Imperial Japanese Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Brown intaglio printing on light blue underprint. A dragon vignette extends across the centre of the note, with a large, faint numeral 10 superimposed over the design. A red seal appears in the lower right corner, with Chinese and Japanese inscriptions identifying the issuing authority. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in brown, the reverse is composed entirely of decorative guilloche work. The denomination numerals 10 and the legend YEN appear in ornate cartouches at upper left and upper right, while the Chinese characters 拾圓 (Ten Yen) are set within a large central guilloche medallion. Two symmetrical panels of vertical Chinese text, presenting the anti-counterfeiting warning inscription, flank the central medallion, with further 拾 characters in guilloche cartouches at lower left and lower right. |
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| Comments |
The "M" prefix in Pick's catalog denotes military issue, and this 10 Yen was part of the occupation currency series prepared for use in territories under Japanese military control during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the wider Pacific conflict. Stripped of the serial number and date conventions found on domestic issues, these notes were deliberately simplified for field distribution — a design choice that also made counterfeiting easier, a problem that plagued the series throughout the war.
By 1945, Japanese military yen had been issued across China, the Philippines, Burma, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies. Postwar Allied directives voided them without redemption, leaving enormous quantities worthless overnight.