Catalog
5 Yuan Matsu
| Issuer | Bank of Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1955 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Yuan (5 TWD) |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait of Sun Yat-Sen within an oval vignette at centre, set against a fine guilloche underprint. The denomination characters 伍圓 appear within an ornate red floral medallion in the lower half, flanked on both sides by the Matsu district restriction overprint in red. Decorative corner rosettes bearing the character 伍 frame the vertical composition, with the issuer name 臺灣銀行 inscribed in Chinese across the upper portion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 行銀灣臺 伍 圓 限 馬 祖 地 區 通 用 年四十四國民華中 (Translation: Bank of Taiwan Five Yuan Use limited to Matsu district Chinese Republic Year Forty-four) |
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| Comments |
The Matsu Local Currency series was issued specifically for use on the Matsu Islands — a cluster of Fujian coastal islands held by the Republic of China government on Taiwan, sitting just a few kilometers off the Chinese mainland. Segregating the currency was a deliberate military-administrative decision: notes in general circulation on Taiwan proper, if captured or smuggled across, could theoretically fund PLA operations. A physically distinct currency limited that exposure.
The Bank of Taiwan's own printing facility handled production, which was unusual for smaller-denomination specialty issues of this period — most comparable restricted-circulation notes from the ROC went offshore to Japanese or American printers.