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5 Yen in Gold
| Issuer | Bank of Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1904 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Black on yellow-orange underprint, with a central vignette of two confronted dragons in intaglio, their bodies flanking a cartouche bearing the Chinese characters 金五圓 (Five Yen in Gold). A circular phoenix medallion occupies the upper centre, surrounded by intricate guilloche ornamental borders. Bank name in Chinese (臺灣銀行) appears in a central oval panel, with denomination numeral 5 repeated in the four corners and serial number printed in red. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 五 行銀灣臺 社會式株 金 五 圓 臺 灣 銀 行 TAIW AN Bᴷ Lᴰ 五 5 (Translation: Five The Bank of Taiwan Co., Ltd. Five Yen in Gold Bank of Taiwan) |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Taiwan was established in 1899 specifically to serve Japan's newly acquired colonial possession, and its early note issues functioned as a parallel currency system — nominally redeemable in gold but operating under conditions that made actual redemption largely theoretical for most holders in Taiwan. This note predates the suspension of the gold standard in the territory, which makes the "in Gold" promise on the face a legally meaningful one at the time of issue, not mere decorative language.
The Cabinet Printing Bureau, known as Naikaku Insatsukyoku, handled security printing for the Japanese imperial government across multiple colonial currencies during this period. Wear patterns on surviving examples tend to concentrate along horizontal fold lines, consistent with long counter circulation in tropical humidity.