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20 Yen US Military Currency - B-Note
| Issuer | Allied Military Authority |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 軍票 SERIES 100 B 20 TWENTY A 00194264 A 圓拾貳 YEN A 00194264 A B SERIES 100 20 拾貳 MILITARY CURRENCY (Translation: 20 Military currency 20 yen 20) |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown, the reverse is dominated by a large central floral and acanthus-leaf vignette executed in fine guilloche linework, with matching ornamental corner pieces. The legend 'ISSUED PURSUANT TO MILITARY PROCLAMATION' appears in a bordered panel at the top, and the Japanese equivalent '軍事布告に基き發行す' is printed along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The B-yen series was issued by Allied occupation authorities following Japan's surrender in August 1945, specifically to prevent the existing Japanese military from drawing on domestic currency stocks to fund any continued resistance or postwar destabilization. The "B" designation distinguished these notes from regular Bank of Japan issues, and Japanese banks were instructed to accept them at par — a directive that generated significant friction with the Bank of Japan from the outset.
Inflation eroded the series badly. By 1948, B-yen purchasing power had collapsed alongside the broader occupation-era monetary disorder, and the notes were eventually superseded when SCAP imposed a single fixed exchange rate of 360 yen to the dollar in April 1949.