Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Dollars 'Banana Money' Japanese Government
| Issuer | Japanese Government (Military Administration) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar (1939-1953) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND FIVE DOLLARS 大日本帝國政府 |
| Reverse description | The unilingual reverse is printed entirely in purple-brown and relies entirely on lathe-work ornamentation. A large central oval guilloche medallion carries the numeral '5' in bold relief, flanked symmetrically by two rosette-style guilloche roundels each also bearing the numeral '5'; scrollwork corner pieces and a fine engine-turned border complete the design, with no textual inscription. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The informal name "banana money" came not from any design element but from the banana tree plantations that the Japanese military promised Malayan and Singaporean civilians as compensation for the scrip's inevitable worthlessness — a promise no one believed. The currency was issued without serial numbers on most denominations, which was a deliberate decision allowing unlimited and untracked overprinting. Inflation followed predictably.
By 1945, a bag of rice cost thousands of dollars in this currency. The collapse was total enough that the British Military Administration, returning after surrender, refused to honor it at any rate of exchange.