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20 Cents
| Issuer | Central Reserve Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette presents a frontal view of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, rendered in fine intaglio engraving with a grand staircase leading to the memorial hall set against a mountainous backdrop. The bank name in Chinese characters (中央储备银行) runs across the upper portion, with the denomination 貳角 repeated in ornamental cartouches on each lateral panel. A decorative guilloche underprint fills the border, and a scroll panel at the lower centre carries the Chinese redemption clause with the date of the Republic year 32 (民國三十二年印). |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is executed entirely in dark blue on a cream ground, with a bold central guilloche medallion enclosing the numeral '20' above the legend 'TWENTY CENTS' on a scroll cartouche. The bank title 'THE CENTRAL RESERVE BANK OF CHINA' is set within a decorative banner across the top, flanked by elaborate lathe-work panels. Denomination numerals '20' appear in solid white within guilloche ovals at left and right, and two manuscript facsimile signatures are printed below the central medallion with the titles GOVERNOR and VICE GOVERNOR respectively. |
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| Comments |
The Central Reserve Bank of China was a puppet institution established by the Japanese-backed Wang Jingwei government in Nanjing in 1941, issuing its own currency — the Central Reserve Dollar — in direct competition with Chongqing's Nationalist fiat money. The Japanese strategy was partly economic warfare: flooding occupied zones with puppet currency to erode confidence in Nationalist notes and redirect local purchasing power toward the occupation apparatus.
By 1943, small-denomination notes like this were being issued in volume to handle everyday transactions in occupied territories. F.H. Chow (Zhou Fohai) was among the most senior collaborationist financial officials — his postwar trial and death sentence, later commuted, made him one of the most prominent figures prosecuted for economic collaboration.