The 'New Taiwan dollar' () (
currency code 'TWD' and common abbreviation 'NT$'), or simply 'Taiwan dollar' (臺幣), is the official
currency of the '
Republic of China (ROC) ' within the areas of
Taiwan,
Penghu,
Kinmen, and
Matsu since
1949. Originally issued by the
Bank of Taiwan, it has been issued by the
Central Bank of China since
2000.
Although the official English word for the currency is
dollar, in
Mandarin it is known as ''
yuan'' (as with
Chinese numerals, this
character has two forms — an informal form 元 and a formal form 圓 used to prevent alterations and accounting mistakes). Colloquially, it is called a ''kuài'' (塊 lit. piece) in Mandarin or ''kho'' (箍 lit. circle) in
Taiwanese. It is frequently called "NT" by expatriates living and working in Taiwan and by local people, when speaking English. Subdivisions of a yuan are rarely used, since practically all products on the consumer market are being sold at whole units of yuan.
History
A NT$100 note issued by Bank of Taiwan in February 1988. It was taken out of circulation on
July 1,
2002, as it had been replaced by a new NT$100 note on
July 2,
2001 issued by the Central Bank of China.
The New Taiwan dollar was first issued by the Bank of Taiwan in
June 15,
1949 to replace the
Old Taiwan dollar at a 40,000-to-1 ratio. The first goal of the New Taiwan dollar was to end the
hyperinflation that had plagued Taiwan and
Mainland China due to the
civil war. A few months later, the ROC government under the
Kuomintang (KMT) was defeated by the
Chinese communists and retreated to Taiwan.
Even though the Taiwan dollar was the de facto currency of Taiwan, for years the old Chinese Nationalist yuan was still the official national currency of the Republic of China. The Chinese Nationalist yuan was also known as the ''
fiat currency'' (法幣) or the ''silver
yuan'' (銀元), even though it was decoupled from the value of silver during World War II. Many older
statutes in
ROC law have
fines and
fees denominated in this currency.
According to the '' (), the exchange rate is fixed at 3 TWD per 1 silver yuan and has never been changed despite decades of inflation. Despite the silver yuan being the primary
legal tender currency, it was impossible to buy, sell, or use it, so it effectively did not exist to the public.
In July
2000, the New Taiwan dollar became the official currency of the ROC and is no longer secondary to the silver yuan. At the same time, the
Central Bank of China began issuing New Taiwan dollar banknotes directly and the old notes issued by the Bank of Taiwan were taken out of circulation.
In the history of the currency, the exchange rate as compared to the
United States dollar (USD) has varied from over 40 TWD per 1 USD in the 1960s to about 25 TWD per 1 USD around 1992. The exchange rate has been around 33 TWD per 1 USD in recent years.
Coins
The
denominations of the Taiwan dollar in circulation are
Coins are minted by the
Central Mint of China, while notes are printed by the
China Engraving and Printing Works. Both are run by the
Central Bank of China. $0.5 is rare because of its low value. $20 is rare because of the government's lack of willingness to promote it.
Remarks
# "中華民國XX年" = "
Republic Year XX". "中華民國" is also the state title "
Republic of China".
# "莫那魯道" = "
Mona Rudao", anti-Japanese leader at the
Wushe Incident.
Banknotes
Note that the $200 and $2000 banknotes are not commonly used. The exact reason is yet unknown. One plausible explanation is that these two denominations are new and it takes time for the people to get used to. Another likely cause is the lack of promotion from the government. For the $2000 banknotes, it might be that the level of consumption has not reached high enough levels to justify carrying banknotes of such value, especially since transactions of larger amounts are widely made through plastic money.
It is relatively easy for the government to disseminate these denominations through various government bodies that do official business with the citizens, such as the post office, the tax authority, or state owned banks. There is also a conspiracy theory against the
Democratic Progressive Party, the ruling party when the two denominations were issued. The conspiracy states that putting
Chiang Kai-shek on a rarely used banknote would "practically" remove him from the currency, while "nominally" including him on the currency would not upset supporters on the other side of the political spectrum that much (the
Pan-Blue Coalition).
| 1999 Series |
|---|
| Image | Value | Dimensions | Main Color | Description | Date of | Remark | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obverse | Reverse | Watermark | printing | issue | withdrawal |
|---|
 NT$100 | $100 | 145 × 70 mm | Red | Sun Yat-sen, "The Chapter of Great Harmony" by Confucius | Chung-Shan Building | Mei flower and numeral 100 | 2000
(Republic Year 89) | July 2, 2001 | | |
 NT$200 | $200 | 150 × 70 mm | Green | Chiang Kai-shek, theme of land reform and public education | The Office of the President | Orchid and numeral 200 | 2001
(Republic Year 90) | January 2, 2002 | | |
front
back | $500 | 155 × 70 mm | Brown | Youth baseball | Sika Deer and Dabajian Mountain | Bamboo and numeral 500 | 2000
(Republic Year 89) | December 15, 2000 | August 1, 2007 | without holographic strip |
 NT$500 | Dark brown | 2004
(Republic Year 93) | July 20, 2005 | | with holographic strip |
front
back | $1000 | 160 × 70 mm | Blue | Elementary Education | Mikado Pheasant and Jade Mountain | Chrysanthemum and numeral 1000 | 1999
(Republic Year 88) | July 3, 2000 | August 1, 2007 | without holographic strip |
 NT$1000 | 2004
(Republic Year 93) | July 20, 2005 | | with holographic strip |
 NT$2000 | $2000 | 165 × 70 mm | Purple | FORMOSAT-1, technology | Formosan landlocked salmon and Nanhu Mountain | Pine and numeral 2000 | 2001
(Republic Year 90) | July 1, 2002 | | |
|
The $500 and $1000 notes without holographic strip are officially taken out of circulation on
August 1,
2007. They may be redeemed at commercial banks until
September 30,
2007. From
October 1 2007, only the
Bank of Taiwan accepts such notes.
[3]
See also
★
History of Taiwan
★
History of the Republic of China
★
Economy of Taiwan
References
1. 20元新硬幣亮相！
2. 新版50元硬幣 明發行
3. 8/1新制／健保費漲價 金融機構舊鈔換新鈔延至9月底
External links
★
SinoBanknote
★ Virginia Sheng,
"Notes from a Small Island", ''Taipei Review'',
September 1,
2000
★
The Taiwanese hyperinflation and stabilization of 1945 - 1952
★
Banknotes of Matsu,
Quemoy and
Tachen
News
★ Chuang Chi-ting,
"Legislator pans new bank notes", ''
Taipei Times'',
February 17,
2001
★ New NT$500 and NT$1000 banknotes introduced, anti-counterfeit measures taken
[1] Taiwan News (online),
July 20,
2005
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