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20 Yen US Military Currency - A-Note
| Issuer | Allied Military Authority (United States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Yen (20 JPY) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black on a light blue guilloche underprint with magenta text, the note carries a large underprint letter 'A' at centre. The denomination '20' appears in ornate cartouches at left and right, with Japanese characters '貳拾圓' (Twenty Yen) running vertically at centre flanked by the English legend 'TWENTY YEN'. Series designation 'SERIES 100' and the single letter 'A' appear in the upper and lower margins, with the legend 'MILITARY CURRENCY' along the bottom edge. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 軍票 拾貳 SERIES 100 A 20 TWENTY A 00430658 A 圓拾貳 YEN A 00430658 A A SERIES 100 20 拾貳 MILITARY CURRENCY (Translation: 20 Military currency 20 yen 20) |
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| Comments |
The "A" prefix on these notes — giving rise to the collector nickname "A-Note" — distinguished US Military Yen issued under occupation authority from Bank of Japan currency still circulating simultaneously in 1945. Both were legal tender at par, which created immediate arbitrage problems: Japanese civilians and demobilized soldiers quickly learned to convert military yen into BOJ notes before remittances abroad could be traced or blocked.
The series was printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing before the surrender and shipped in bulk. Japan's occupation administration eventually suppressed the dual-currency arrangement in 1948, but not before significant quantities of A-Notes had drained into informal currency markets.