The New Taiwan dollar (
code
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
: TWD;
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
: NT$, also abbreviated as NT) is the official
currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general def ...
of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. The New Taiwan dollar has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949, when it replaced the
Old Taiwan dollar
The Old Taiwan dollar was in use from 1946 to 1949, beginning shortly after Taiwan's handover from Japan to the Republic of China. The currency was issued by the Bank of Taiwan. Hyperinflation prompted the introduction of the New Taiwan dollar ...
, at a rate of 40,000 old dollars per one new dollar. The basic unit of the New Taiwan dollar is called a
yuan () and is subdivided into ten
jiao
Jiao may refer to:
*Horn (Chinese constellation), or Jiao (角宿), a Chinese constellation
*Jiaolong, or Jiao (蛟), a Chinese dragon
*Jiao (currency) (角), a unit of currency in China, one-tenth of a Chinese yuan or dollar
*Jiao (surname) ( ...
(), and into 100
fen
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...
() or cents, although in practice both jiao and fen are never actually used.
There are a variety of alternative names to the units in Taiwan. The unit of dollar is typically informally written with the simpler equivalent
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
as , except when writing it for legal transactions such as at the bank, when it has to be written as . Colloquially, the currency unit is called both (''yúan'', literally "circle") and (''kuài'', literally "piece") in
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, (''kho͘'', literally "hoop") in
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...
, and (''ngiùn'', literally "silver") in
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
.
The
central bank of Taiwan has issued the New Taiwan Dollar since 2000. Prior to 2000, the
Bank of Taiwan
The Bank of Taiwan (BOT, , see below) is a commercial bank headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. It is owned by the government of Taiwan.
History
The Bank of Taiwan was established as Taiwan's central bank in 1899, during Japanese rule. ...
issued
banknote
A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand.
Banknotes w ...
s as the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' central bank between 1949 and 1961, and after 1961 continued to issue banknotes as a delegate of the central bank. The central bank began issuing New Taiwan dollar banknotes in July 2000, and the notes issued by the Bank of Taiwan were taken out of circulation.
Terminology
The adjective "new" () is only added in formal contexts where it is necessary to avoid any ambiguity, even though ambiguity is virtually non-existent today. These contexts include banking, contracts, or foreign exchange. The currency unit name can be written as or , which are interchangeable. They are both pronounced ''yuán'' in
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
but have different pronunciations in
Taiwanese Hokkien
Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...
(îⁿ, goân) and
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
(yèn, ngièn). The name in
Taiwanese Hokkien
Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...
and
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
for cent is likely from the hundredth unit (sen) of
Japanese era
The , also known as , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being ""), followed by the literal ...
Taiwanese yen
The was the currency of Japanese Taiwan from 1895 to 1946. It was on a par with and circulated alongside the Japanese yen. The yen was subdivided into 100 . It was replaced by the Old Taiwan dollar in 1946, which in turn was replaced by the New T ...
or from English.
In English usage, the New Taiwan dollar is often abbreviated as NT, NT$, or NT dollar, while the abbreviation TWD is typically used in the context of foreign exchange rates. Subdivisions of a New Taiwan dollar are rarely used, since practically all products on the consumer market are sold in whole dollars. Nevertheless, banks do record cents (hundredth of dollar).
History
The various currencies called yuan or dollar issued in China, as well as the
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the ...
, were all derived from the
Spanish American silver dollar which China imported in large quantities from
Spanish America
Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' Spanish Empire, imperial era between 15th century, 15th ...
through
Spanish Philippines
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
in the
Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade
fil, Galyon ng Maynila
, english_name = Manila Galleon
, duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years)
, venue = Between Manila and Acapulco
, location = New Spain (Spanish Empire ...
from the 16th to 20th centuries. After use of the
Spanish dollar
The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...
and silver Chinese yuan in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, it issued the
Taiwanese yen
The was the currency of Japanese Taiwan from 1895 to 1946. It was on a par with and circulated alongside the Japanese yen. The yen was subdivided into 100 . It was replaced by the Old Taiwan dollar in 1946, which in turn was replaced by the New T ...
from 1895, followed by the
Old Taiwan dollar
The Old Taiwan dollar was in use from 1946 to 1949, beginning shortly after Taiwan's handover from Japan to the Republic of China. The currency was issued by the Bank of Taiwan. Hyperinflation prompted the introduction of the New Taiwan dollar ...
in 1946.
The New Taiwan dollar was first issued by the Bank of Taiwan on 15 June 1949, to replace the
Old Taiwan dollar
The Old Taiwan dollar was in use from 1946 to 1949, beginning shortly after Taiwan's handover from Japan to the Republic of China. The currency was issued by the Bank of Taiwan. Hyperinflation prompted the introduction of the New Taiwan dollar ...
at a ratio of 40,000 to one. The first goal of the New Taiwan dollar was to end the
hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...
that had plagued
Nationalist China due to the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
.
After the communists captured Beijing in January 1949, the Nationalists began to retreat to Taiwan. China's gold reserve was moved to Taiwan in February 1949. The government then declared in the
that dollars issued by the Bank of Taiwan would become the new currency in circulation.
Even though the New Taiwan dollar was the
''de facto'' currency of Taiwan, statutes after 1949 still define the
silver yuan or
silver dollar as the legal currency, worth NT$3. Many older statutes have fines and fees given in silver yuan. Its value of NT$3 has not been updated despite decades of inflation, making the silver yuan a purely notional currency a long time ago, inconvertible to actual silver.
When the ''Temporary Provisions'' were made ineffective in 1991, the ROC lacked a legal national currency until the year 2000, when the Central Bank of China (CBC) replaced the Bank of Taiwan in issuing NT bills.
In July 2000, the New Taiwan dollar became Taiwan's legal currency. It is no longer secondary to the silver yuan. At this time, the central bank began issuing New Taiwan dollar banknotes, and the notes issued earlier by the Bank of Taiwan were taken out of circulation.
The exchange rate compared to the
United States dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
has varied from less than ten to one in the mid-1950s, more than forty to one in the 1960s, and about twenty-five to one in 1992. The exchange rate as of July 2021 is NT$27.93 per US$.
Coins
The
denominations of the New Taiwan dollar in circulation are:
Coins are minted by the
Central Mint
The Central Mint is a subsidiary company of the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The major activities of the mint are minting and melting circulation and commemorative coins, and producing commemorative medals and other kind of c ...
, while notes are printed by the
Central Engraving and Printing Plant
The Central Engraving and Printing Plant (CEPP; ) is a subsidiary of the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is responsible for printing the paper bank notes of Taiwan in its currency, the New Taiwan dollar.
History
The company wa ...
. Both are run by the Central Bank. The 50¢ coin is rare because of its low value, while the NT$20 coin is rare because of the government's lack of willingness to promote it. As of 2010, the cost of the raw materials in a 50¢ coin was more than the face value of the coin.
Banknotes
The current series of banknotes for the New Taiwan dollar began circulation in July 2000. This set was introduced when the New Taiwan dollar succeeded the silver yuan as the official currency within Taiwan.
The current set includes banknotes for NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1000, and NT$2000. Note that the NT$200 and NT$2000 banknotes are not commonly used by consumers. This may be due to the tendencies of consumers to simply use multiple NT$100 or NT$500 bills to cover the range of the NT$200, as well as using multiple NT$1000 bills or credit/debit cards instead of the NT$2000 bill. Lack of government promotion may also be a contributing factor to the general lack of usage.
It is relatively easy for the government to disseminate these denominations through various government bodies that do official business with the citizens, such as the post office, the tax authority, or state owned banks. There is also a conspiracy theory against the
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
, the ruling party at the time the NT$200 and NT$2000 denominations were issued. The conspiracy states that putting
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
on a rarely used banknote would "practically" remove him from the currency, while "nominally" including him on the currency would not upset supporters on the other side of the political spectrum that much (the
Pan-Blue Coalition
The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and You ...
).
The year 2000 version $500 and 1999 version $1000 notes without holographic strip were officially taken out of circulation on 1 August 2007. They were redeemable at commercial banks until 30 September 2007. As of 1 October 2007, only
Bank of Taiwan
The Bank of Taiwan (BOT, , see below) is a commercial bank headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. It is owned by the government of Taiwan.
History
The Bank of Taiwan was established as Taiwan's central bank in 1899, during Japanese rule. ...
accepts such notes.
100-dollar commemorative note
On 6 January 2011, the Central Bank of the Republic of China issued a new 100-dollar legal tender circulating commemorative in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. The red paper note measures 145 × 70 mm and features a portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen on the front, and the Chung-Shan Building on the back. The design is no different from the ordinary NT$100 note, except for the Chinese wording on the reverse of the note, which reads "Celebrating 100 years since the founding of the Republic of China ()".
Exchange rates
See also
*
Old Taiwan dollar
The Old Taiwan dollar was in use from 1946 to 1949, beginning shortly after Taiwan's handover from Japan to the Republic of China. The currency was issued by the Bank of Taiwan. Hyperinflation prompted the introduction of the New Taiwan dollar ...
*
Economy of Taiwan
The economy of Taiwan is a highly developed market economy. It is the 8th largest in Asia and 18th-largest in the world by purchasing power parity, allowing Taiwan to be included in the advanced economies group by the International Monetary ...
*
Taxation in Taiwan
Taxes provide an important source of revenue for various levels of the Government of the Republic of China. The tax revenue of Taiwan in 2015 amounted NT$2.1 trillion.
Tax administration
The Ministry of Finance, which is part of the Executive Y ...
*
History of the Republic of China
The history of the Republic of China begins after the Qing dynasty in 1912, when the Xinhai Revolution and the formation of the Republic of China put an end to 2,000 years of imperial rule. The Republic experienced many trials and tribulations a ...
*
ROC consumer voucher The Republic of China Consumer Voucher () is a type of voucher issued by the government of the Republic of China in times of economic troubles. In 2009, the first series of vouchers was issued in respond to the global financial crisis and a second s ...
Notes
Words in different languages
References
External links
*
SinoBanknote*
an
*
*
ttp://benjamintsai.com/plog/2009/02/sun-yat-sen/ Close up image of a circulated 50 NT coin
*
Historical and current banknotes of Taiwan
{{Portal bar, Asia, Money, Numismatics, Taiwan
Currencies of Taiwan
Taiwan under Republic of China rule
Currencies introduced in 1949