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50 Sen Japanese Military Occupation
| Issuer | Imperial Japanese Government (大日本帝國政府) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1937 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#M2 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a large scalloped oval guilloche underprint in golden yellow, composed of concentric lathe-work bands enclosing a central rectangular text panel with decorative foliate corner ornaments. A bold red circular seal bearing the imperial chrysanthemum and the characters 軍用匯兌 is positioned at the lower centre beneath the guilloche cartouche. The text panel carries a multi-line Chinese-language warning inscription against counterfeiting. |
| Reverse lettering | 正此票一到即換 面所開日本通貨 如有偽造便造仿 知情行變應造 或重貨著幼 |
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| Comments |
Japan's military occupation currency for China was issued in parallel with combat operations following the July 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident. The 50 Sen note was among the earliest denominations released under the military scrip system, intended to replace Chinese silver coinage in occupied territories and disrupt the Nationalist government's monetary base — not merely to facilitate troop payments.
The Cabinet Printing Bureau's involvement placed production under direct government rather than central bank authority, a deliberate structural choice that kept the Finance Ministry out of the occupation financing chain. Notes of this series circulated alongside the regular yen in ways that systematically drained silver from occupied regions.