The
Manchukuo yuan (滿洲國圓) was the official unit of
currency of the
Empire of Manchukuo, from June 1932 - August 1945.
The monetary unit was based on one basic pure
silver patron of 23.91 grammes. 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
Initially
bank notes and
coins were produced
mint 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). 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,
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
chiao (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...
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