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5 Yen in Gold
| Issuer | Bank of Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries a vignette of the Taiwan Grand Shrine at right, framed by the bank name inscribed in Chinese characters at top and along the left margin. Denomination numerals appear at all four corners and at center, with an official seal positioned at lower left beneath the bank name. The overall layout follows a formal bilingual format integrating classical Chinese script throughout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 券行銀灣臺 五 臺 灣 銀 行 圓 5 五 俟可相壹に引此 也申渡圓金換券 五 5 (Translation: Bank of Taiwan note Five Bank of Taiwan Five Yen In exchange for this note, a corresponding amount in yen shall be paid) |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Taiwan was established in 1899 as a colonial financial institution under Japanese rule, tasked with managing currency across Taiwan and, eventually, extending Japanese financial influence into southern China and Southeast Asia. This 5 Yen gold note belongs to the earliest issues of that bank's paper series, before the gold convertibility clauses became effectively meaningless in practice — the Taisho-era monetary system nominally maintained gold backing long after actual redemption had become a bureaucratic fiction.
The "in Gold" designation is the detail worth pausing on. It survived on the face of Bank of Taiwan notes well into the period when the gold standard had been suspended, a legal formality retained to maintain confidence in a colonial currency whose authority rested entirely on Tokyo's backing.