World coins chat: Taiwan

Taiwan is an island nation east of China and south of Japan. It has a population of 27 million. Its official name is the Republic of China (ROC), as the result of the Chinese Civil War which led to a communist victory in the mainland forming the People's Republic of China, with the Republican forces retreating to Taiwan. Still today the political status of Taiwan is a sensitive issue in the region.

The island of Taiwan was originally inhabited by Negritos, a tribe related to Australian Aboriginals. Centuries later Austronesian people arrived and only after that immigration from Han Chinese started to shape the island's current demographics. From the 16th Century the Portuguese and Dutch had some strongholds on what they called Formosa. At the end of the 17th Century a Chinese force expelled the Europeans and took the island.

The First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) resulted in the annexation of Taiwan by the Japanese Empire. The Japanese rule was marked by oppression and active jspanification, but also by developing local infrastructure, industry and education. It also brought and end to the practice of headhunting often perpetrated by Taiwanese Aborigines to take revenge on Han Chinese or Japanese ss both were regarded as invaders.

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Taiwan became the main stronghold of the Western-backed Republican forces of the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949). With the mainland lost to the communists, the Republic of China, as it was still known, the ROC still enjoyed full UN and Security Counsel membership, despite protest from the global communist community. Only in 1971 this was transferred to the PRC.

Martial law was in place in Taiwan until 1987. Especially during the first years, many political opponents and supposed communists were tried and executed or put in prison. These years are known as The White Terror.

Taiwan developed quite strongly economically after starting from poverty and destruction from the war. The opening of the PRC's economy has boosted Taiwan's economy even further. Still there's an ongoing debate in Taiwan about how to shape the relationship with the mainland.

Currency
The New Taiwanese Dollar (NT$ or TWD) has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949. It is known locally as Yuan and it is subdivided in 10 Jiao and 100 Fen.

The first Taiwanese currency was the Yen which was used alongside the Japanese Yen during Japanese rule between 1895 and 1945. It was replaced at par by the Taiwanese Dollar in 1946. Accelerating inflation as a result of the chaos and destruction from war prompted the authorities to issue the New Taiwanese Dollar at a rate of 20,000 to 1 in 1949. It was backed by gold and worth 20 US Cents at its inception, but dropped to 10 Cents in 1951 and kept dropping until it stabilised to 40 NT$/$ in the 1970's. The last few decades Taiwan's currency has been pretty strong and currently trades around 33/$.

Coins
No coins were produced for the Taiwanese Yen (instead, Japanese were used) or the first Taiwanese Dollar. In 1949 a bronze 1 Jiao and silver 5 Jiao were issued with aluminium 2 Jiao following in 1950. The 5 Jiao resembles a quarter in size but my exchange rate sources tell me it was worth a dime. Perhaps the New Taiwanese Dollar was even intended to kick off at a higher rate in 1949 and the bullion value of the 5 Jiso coin soon exceedes its nominal value.

In 1955 a new series was launched of 1 and 5 Jiao. The third theries dates from 1960 to 1980 with coins from 1 Jiao to 5 Yuan, and the current fourth series started in 1981 with denominations of 1/2 Yuan to 10 Yuan, with 20 and 50 NT$ being introduced fairly recently. The design for the 10 Yuan coin was updated in 2010 to commemorate the centenary of the Chinese Republic.

Modern Taiwanese coins can maybe be best recognized by appearing Chinese but without communist symbols. Many Taiwanese coins feature a portrait of Chiang Kai-Shek.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/taiwan-1.html