Catalog
50 Yuan Kinmen
| Issuer | Bank of Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1969 |
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| In circulation to | 1 July 2002 |
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| Obverse lettering | 國民華中 金 門 圓拾伍 行銀灣臺 年八十五國民華中 (Translation: Republic of China Kinmen Fifty Yuan Bank of Taiwan Republic of China year 58) |
| Reverse description | Juguang Tower is depicted as the central vignette on the left side of the reverse, a landmark closely associated with the Kinmen Islands. Red overprints are integrated into the composition, reinforcing the note's restricted regional validity. The overall design employs a structured layout consistent with Taiwan emergency and local issue series of the period. |
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| Comments |
Kinmen (Quemoy) notes were a parallel currency system maintained by the Bank of Taiwan specifically for the offshore islands — Kinmen, Matsu, and briefly others — to prevent currency from freely moving between the islands and Taiwan proper. The separation was partly financial control, partly a Cold War security measure: the ROC military didn't want circulating currency to become an intelligence or logistical liability in a zone that had been shelled by the PRC as recently as 1958.
The R-prefix Pick numbers denote this regional status. These notes were not legal tender on the Taiwan mainland, and mainlanders presenting them for exchange faced restrictions well into the 1970s.