The Manchukuo yuan (Chinese: 滿洲國圓, Mǎnzhōuguóyuán) was the official unit of currency of the Empire of Manchuria, from June 1932 to August 1945.

Manchukuo yuan
滿洲國圓
Mǎnzhōuguóyuán
Central Bank of Manchou 1 yuan (1932)
Denominations
Subunit
11000li
1100fen
110jiao
Banknotes1, 5, 10, 100, 1000 yuan
Coins5 li, 1, 5 fen, 1 jiao
Demographics
User(s)Manchukuo Manchukuo
Issuance
Central bankCentral Bank of Manchou
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The monetary unit was based on one basic pure silver patron of 23.91 grams. It replaced the Chinese Haikwan tael, the local monetary system in common and regular use in Manchuria before the Mukden Incident, as legal tender.

History

edit

Initially banknotes and coins were produced and minted by the Bank of Japan, but were later issued from the mint of the Central Bank of Manchou in the Manchukuo capital of Hsinking (now Changchun) with branch offices in Harbin, Mukden, Jilin, and Qiqihar. The Central Bank of Manchou was opened on 1 July 1932 with a ceremony attended by the Emperor of Manchukuo in person, the new central bank acquired the assets and continued the responsibilities of the previous four banknote issuing banks in the region of Manchuria.

The currency that circulated in Manchuria prior to the introduction of the Manchukuo yuan consisted of the banknotes of various provincial banks as well as commercial banks, silver smelting shops (known as yinchang), and pawn shops. Types of old banknotes recovered and later destroyed included high denomination banknotes, banknotes denominated in copper coins, official provincial notes issued by the banks of the provincial government, small denomination coin notes, tiao/diào denominated notes, jiao denominated notes and others. The 15 different types of currency that circulated in Manchuria prior to the introduction of the Manchukuo yuan were allowed to be exchanged for the new currency by degree for a period of three years, using this method ninety-five point four percent of all previous Manchurian currency that was still in circulation, and the destruction of these old banknotes was handled by officials from the Department of Finance of the government of Manchukuo. The old banknotes were first shredded by machines and then burned, but the number of banknotes that had to be destroyed proved so numerous and new hearths would have to be constructed to burn all the old paper money.[1]

Due to worldwide fluctuations in the price of silver during the 1930s, Manchukuo took the yuan off the silver standard in 1935 and subsequently pegged the yuan to, and later reached approximate exchange parity with, the Japanese yen. In 1940 the Manchukuo yuan was being used to measure Manchukuo exports and imports to countries that included America,[2] Germany and Japan.[3]

Throughout this period about half the value of the issued notes was backed by specie reserves. The notes issued were in five denominations, one hundred, ten, five and one yuan and five jiao (one-half yuan), and typically depicted Qing dynasty rulers of China on the obverse. To keep up with the inflationary pressures typically experienced by Japanese-controlled areas towards the end of World War II, a 1,000 yuan note was issued in 1944.

The Yuan was subdivided into 10 jiao (角), 100 fen (分) or 1000 li (釐). Coins were issued in denominations of 5 li up to 10 fen.

In 1944 and 1945, Manchukuo issued coins (1 and 5 fen) made of what the Standard Catalog of World Coins describes as "red or brown fiber", resembling cardboard. These are a rare example of non-metallic coins.

As a matter of policy, the United States prevented any trading in the currency. This made it more difficult for the nation to access the American credit market.[4]

In 1948, after the end of World War II, approximately 12 billion yuan of Central Bank of Manchukou notes were redeemed by the Tung Pei Bank.

Banknotes

edit

Initially banknotes were printed by the Japanese but also by the Manchu Imperial Printing Bureau after the old Chinese mint in the city of Mukden was repaired.

Banknotes of the Manchukuo yuan (1932-1933 issue)
Image Value Main Color Description Date of issue
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse
    50 fen (5 jiao) Dark blue and ochre Denomination in Chinese
    1 yuan Blue and yellow Flag of Manchukuo; Qinmin Building at the Manchukuo Imperial Palace Denomination 1932-1933
  5 yuan Dark brown and tan Flag of Manchukuo; Qinmin Building at the Manchukuo Imperial Palace Denomination 1933
    10 yuan Blue and orange Flag of Manchukuo; Qinmin Building at the Manchukuo Imperial Palace Denomination 1932
    100 yuan Blue and yellow-orange Flag of Manchukuo; Qinmin Building at the Manchukuo Imperial Palace Denomination 1933
Banknotes of the Manchukuo yuan (1935-1938 issue)
Image Value Main Color Description Date of issue
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse
    5 jiao (50 fen) Brown, green and lilac Marshal Chao Kung Ming ("God of Wealth") Pavilion 1935
    1 yuan Black, green and yellow T'ien Ming Imperial Palace, Hsinking 1937
    5 yuan Black and brown Mencius Building complex of the General Affairs State Council, Hsinking 1938
    10 yuan Black and brown Marshal Chao Kung Ming ("God of Wealth") Headquarters of the Central Bank of Manchou, Hsinking 1937
    100 yuan Black and green Ta Ch'eng Tien building, Confucius Sheep 1938
Banknotes of the Manchukuo yuan (1944 issue)
Image Value Main Color Description Date of issue
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse
    5 jiao (50 fen) Blue-green and pale blue Ta Ch'eng Tien building Chinese dragon 1944
    1 yuan Black, green and violet T'ien Ming Denomination in Chinese and Mongolian 1944
    5 yuan Black and orange Mencius Building complex of the General Affairs State Council, Hsinking 1944
    10 yuan Black and green Marshal Chao Kung Ming ("God of Wealth") Headquarters of the Central Bank of Manchou, Hsinking 1944
    100 yuan Black and blue Ta Ch'eng Tien building, Confucius Silos 1944
Banknotes of the Manchukuo yuan (1941-1945 issue)
Image Value Main Color Description Date of issue
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse
    5 fen Blue-green Imperial Seal of Manchukuo; denomination Tower 1945
    1 jiao Yellow-orange Imperial Seal of Manchukuo House 1944
    5 jiao (50 fen) Green, pink and orange Marshal Zhao Gong Ming ("God of Wealth") Pavilion 1941
    100 yuan Black and blue Dacheng Hall in the Temple of Confucius, Confucius Silos 1945
    1,000 yuan Dark brown and violet Dacheng Hall in the Temple of Confucius, Confucius Headquarters of the Central Bank of Manchou, Hsinking 1944

Coins

edit
Coins of the Manchukuo yuan
Image Value Technical parameters Description Date of first minting
Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Edge Obverse Reverse
5 li 21 mm 3.5 grams Bronze Plain/Smooth Flag of Manchukuo within an inner pearl circle; text "⋆國洲滿大⋆ 年三同大" Denomination in floral wreath 1933-1934 (Datong 2–3)
5 li 21 mm 3.5 grams Bronze Plain/Smooth Flag of Manchukuo within an inner pearl circle; text "⋆國洲滿大⋆ 年元德康" Denomination in floral wreath 1934-1939 (Kangde 1–6)
  1 fen 24 mm 4.9 grams Bronze Plain/Smooth Flag of Manchukuo within an inner pearl circle; text "⋆國洲滿大⋆ 年二同大" Denomination in floral wreath 1933-1934 (Datong 2–3)
  1 fen 24 mm 4.9 grams Bronze Plain/Smooth Flag of Manchukuo within an inner pearl circle; text "⋆國洲滿大⋆ 年二德康" Denomination in floral wreath 1934-1939 (Kangde 1–6)
  1 fen 19 mm 1.6 mm 1 gram Aluminum Plain/Smooth Imperial Seal of Manchukuo; text "• 國洲滿大 • 年八德康" Denomination in a wreath of rice 1939-1943 (Kangde 6–10)
  1 fen 16 mm 0.55 grams Aluminum Reeded Numerical "1"; text "• 國帝洲滿 • 年一十德康" Floral cartouche dividing the denomination; clouds above and below 1943-1944 (Kangde 10–11)
1 fen 0.62 grams Red or brown fiber material Plain/Smooth Numerical "1"; text "• 國帝洲滿 • 年二十德康" Floral cartouche dividing the denomination; clouds above and below 1945 (Kangde 12)
5 fen 20 mm 1.5 mm 3.5 grams Copper-nickel Plain/Smooth Lotus flower; text "⋆ 國洲滿大 ⋆ 年三同大" Pearl above denomination between two dragons 1933-1934 (Datong 2–3)
5 fen 20 mm 3.7 grams Copper-nickel Plain/Smooth Lotus flower; text "⋆ 國洲滿大 ⋆ 年元德康" Pearl above denomination between two dragons 1934-1939 (Kangde 1–6)
5 fen 21 mm 1.6 mm 1.2 grams Aluminum Plain/Smooth Big numerical "5" inside a circle; text "• 國洲滿大 • 年十儀溥" Imperial Seal of Manchukuo above denomination; floral wreath below 1940-1943 (Kangde 7–10)
5 fen 19 mm 0.75 grams Aluminum Reeded Numerical "5"; text "• 國帝洲滿 • 年一十德康" Floral cartouche dividing the denomination; clouds above and below 1943-1944 (Kangde 10–11)
  5 fen 20 mm 2.3 mm 1.2 grams Red or brown fiber material Plain/Smooth Numerical "5"; text "• 國帝洲滿 • 年一十德康" Floral cartouche dividing the denomination; clouds above and below 1944-1945 (Kangde 11–12)
  1 jiao 23 mm 5 grams Copper-nickel Plain/Smooth Lotus flower; text "⋆ 國洲滿大 ⋆ 年三同大" Pearl above denomination between two dragons 1933-1934 (Datong 2–3)
  1 jiao 23 mm 5 grams Copper-nickel Plain/Smooth Lotus flower; text "⋆ 國洲滿大 ⋆ 年五德康" Pearl above denomination between two dragons 1934-1939 (Kangde 1–6)
1 jiao 21 mm 3.5 grams Copper-nickel Reeded Two pegasi; text "• 國洲滿大 • 年七德康" Imperial Seal of Manchukuo above denomination with stylized sunrise and clouds 1940 (Kangde 7)
1 jiao (10 fen) 23 mm 1.7 grams Aluminum Reeded Numerical "10" within an outline of a "Fundo" weight; text "• 國洲滿大 • 年九德康" Imperial Seal of Manchukuo above denomination with two rice stalks 1940-1943 (Kangde 7–10)
1 jiao (10 fen) 22 mm 1 mm 1 gram Aluminum Plain/Smooth Numerical "10"; text "• 國帝洲滿 • 年十德康" Floral cartouche dividing the denomination; clouds above and below 1943 (Kangde 10)

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ The Currency Collector JAPANESE SPONSORED COIN AND BANK NOTE ISSUES FOR THE OCCUPIED REGIONS OF CHINA by John E. Sandrock. Retrieved: 11 April 2018.
  2. ^ Future of American Trade with Manchukuko, Roy H Akagi, 3 June 1940, accessed September 2009
  3. ^ Germany and republican China, William C. Kirby 1984, p143, accessed September 2009
  4. ^ Barnhart, Michael A (July 8, 1988). Japan Prepares for Total War: The Search for Economic Security, 1919–1941. Cornell University. ISBN 978-0801495298.
Preceded by:
Chinese yuan
Reason: Wide range of yuan issued by the private and commercial banks based in Northeast China and by various third parties (pawn shops, silver smelting shops (yinchang), etc.) in Manchuria prior to the establishment of Manchukuo.
Currency of Manchuria
1932 – 1945
Succeeded by:
Yuan of the Red Army Command
Reason: Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the Surrender of Japan.