TWD – Taiwan New Dollar

Monetary System

1 yuan = 10 jiao = 100 fen1895: 1 Taiwanese yen = 100 Taiwanese sen
1945: 1 Taiwanese yuan = 10 Taiwanese jiao = 100 Taiwanese fen
1949: 1 “new” Taiwanese yuan (TWD) = 40,000 “old” yuan

From the Chinese takeover of power in 1945, the Taiwanese yuan has been unofficially known in English as the dollar. The original dollar was ruined by hyperinflation and has been known as as the Old Taiwan dollar ever since 1949 to distinguish it from the current New Taiwan dollar (NT$).

Central Bank
中央銀行

In 2000, the authority to issue banknotes in Taiwan was transferred to the Central Bank, a government-administered financial institution. The Central Bank had been founded as the Central Bank of China in 1923 in Guangzhou (now the People’s Republic of China), and had been one of the major issuers of banknotes in the Republic of China. It was moved to Taipei in December 1949 when Chiang Kai-Shek fled the mainland after the communist revolution.
For more information, visit www.cbc.gov.tw.

1999 – 2011 Cultural Issues

These notes all depict cultural themes. The date appears in Chinese at lower left or center back.

Description: 100.00 TWD – Taiwan New Dollar Size: 145 x 70 mm

Red and brown. Front: Chinese text; The Chapter of Great Harmony by Confucius; Sun Yat-sen. Back: Chinese text; Chung Shan Building, Taipei; plum blossoms. Windowed security thread with demetalized 100. Watermark: Plum blossom and electrotype 100. Printer: 中央印製廠 (Central Engraving and Printing Plant). 145 x 70 mm. Paper.

Description: 200.00 TWD – Taiwan New Dollar Size: 150 x 70 mm

Green and tan. Front: Chinese text; children studying; Chiang Kai-shek seated; harvesting rice. Back: Chinese text; Presidential Office, Taipei; orchids. Windowed security thread with demetalized 200. Watermark: Orchid and electrotype 200. Printer: 中央印製廠(Central Engraving and Printing Plant). 150 x 70 mm. Paper.

Description: 500.00 TWD – Taiwan New Dollar Size: 155 x 70 mm

Dark brown, green, and purple. Front: Chinese text; school baseball celebrations. Back: Chinese text; Mount Dabajian; Formosan deer; bamboo fronds. Holographic strip. Windowed security thread with demetalized 500. Watermark: Bamboo and electrotype 500. Printer: 中央印製廠 (Central Engraving and Printing Plant). 155 x 70 mm. Paper.

CAUTION!!!
Notes without the silver band are out of circulation.
WE DO NOT BUY THESE NOTES.

Brown, pink, blue, and purple. Front: Chinese text; school baseball celebrations. Back: Chinese text; Mount Dabajian; Formosan deer; bamboo fronds. Windowed security thread with demetalized 500. Watermark: Bamboo and electrotype 500. Printer: 中央印製廠(Central Engraving and Printing Plant). 155 x 70 mm. Paper.
Intro: 15.12.2000. Withdrawn 01.08.2007.

Description: 1,000.00 TWD – Taiwan New Dollar Size: 160 x 70 mm

Blue and light green. Front: Chinese text; telescope; elementary school children studying globe; schoolgirl using microscope. Back: Chinese text; Mount Yu; mikado pheasants; chrysanthemums. Holographic strip. Windowed security thread with demetalized 1000. Watermark: Chrysanthemums and electrotype 1000. Printer: 中央印製廠 (Central Engraving and Printing Plant). 160 x 70 mm. Paper.

CAUTION!!!
Notes without the silver band are out of circulation.
WE DO NOT BUY THESE NOTES.

Blue and light green. Front: Chinese text; telescope; elementary school children studying globe; schoolgirl using microscope; geometry. Back: Chinese text; Mount Yu; mikado pheasants; chrysanthemums. Windowed security thread with demetalized 1000. Watermark: Chrysanthemums and electrotype 1000. Printer: 中央印製廠 (Central Engraving and Printing Plant). 160 x 70 mm. Paper.
Intro: 03.07.2000. Withdrawn 01.08.2007.

Description: 2,000.00 TWD – Taiwan New Dollar Size: 165 x 70 mm

Purple, pink, and blue. Front: Chinese text; modern buildings; FORMOSAT-1 satellite; satellite communication dishes; rocket. Back: Chinese text; two Formosan salmon fish; Mount Nanhu; pine branches. Windowed security thread with demetalized 2000. Watermark: Pine frond and electrotype 2000. Printer: 中央印製廠 (Central Engraving and Printing Plant). 165 x 70 mm. Paper.

1999 New Yuan Commemorative Issues

This 50-yuan polymer note commemorates the 50th aniversary of the New Taiwan dollar (yuan).

Description: 50.00 TWD – Taiwan New Dollar Size: 166 x 72 mm

Multicolor. Front: Chinese text; 50 in OVI; communications satellite; Taiwanese banknotes (B389 and B342); bridge; express freeway cloverleaf interchange; high-speed train; see-through window with Taiwanese flag OVD. Back: Chinese text; Central Bank of China’s headquarters building; commuter train; woman wearing conical hat, holding stalks of rice. No security thread. Watermark: None. Printer: 中央印製廠 (Central Engraving and Printing Plant). 166 x 72 mm. Polymer.

Translations

Modern Chinese may be written left to right, or top to bottom. Until relatively recently, however, the Chinese written on Taiwanese banknotes was mostly written right to left, or top to bottom. In this catalog all descriptions replicate the text as it appears on the note, with vertical text (top to bottom) reproduced horizontally (left to right).
On some banknotes, the printer imprint, and/or the date, may contain extra characters (at the extreme left or right) that translate as printed by, issued in, manufactured by, etc. For brevity’s sake, these extra characters are ignored in the note descriptions and in their corresponding English translations.