20 Cents

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.