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was a colloquial term used to refer to a form of military
scrip A scrip (or ''wikt:chit#Etymology 3, chit'' in India) is any substitute for legal tender. It is often a form of credit (finance), credit. Scrips have been created and used for a variety of reasons, including exploitative payment of employees un ...
used in
post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...
US-occupied
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
, and
Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
from September 7, 1945, to July 21, 1948. Unlike their B Yen counterparts, these notes were restricted to military use only with the exception of Korea for a brief time. They are notable for being the first "Military Payment Certificates" (in Korea) given after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
had ended.


History

Both "A" and "B yen" scrip in denominations from 10 sen to 100 yen were printed in 1945. These were to be used immediately upon the invasion of Okinawa, April 1, 1945. "A yen" scrip along with their "B yen" counterparts were initially presented in "SPECIMEN" booklets to help US Forces personnel identify the new invasion currency to be used. In general, "A yen" scrip was printed using the block number "A-A" with exceptions. The block number "H-A" was used for specimen examples that found their way into circulation and for replacement notes. When the "A-yen" scrip was released in Japan, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands from July 19, to September 30, 1946 it was restricted to military use only.Kadekawa, Manabu. ''Okinawa Champloo Encyclopedia'' (沖縄チャンプルー事典). Tokyo: Yama-Kei Publishers, 2001. p 176. The United States military used these as payment certificates, while the civilian population used " B Yen" scrip as currency. "A yen" scrip was used as general currency in Korea from September 7, 1945, to July 10, 1946. "A yen" scrip was eventually deprecated in all three regions on July 21, 1948, in favor of a one currency "B yen" scrip system.


Production

All "A yen" series notes are considered scarcer than the "B yen" series, despite the former having millions more printed. Each note was printed under the A-A block expect for replacement notes which used block H-A.


Collecting

Every denomination of the Japanese "A-yen" series is considered to be "scarce" due to their lower survival rate than their "B-yen" counterparts. This was partly caused by the limited time the notes were allowed to circulate as civilian currency, and the limited time given to redeem them. The smaller denomination bills were more likely to have been kept as they were issued in greater numbers and had a lower value. High denomination bills of "20" and "100 yen" are rare as only a few of these notes were intentionally kept by civilians from redemption. These un-redeemed notes were invalidated afterwards which essentially made them worthless (at the time) to those keeping them. The booklets of specimen currency that were used to instruct US Forces personnel identify the new invasion currency are also still extant. Each of these booklets originally contained a note from the 7 different denominations with replacement H-A serial numbers and "SPECIMEN" roulette cancels. A complete example with all 7 denominations in "Choice Crisp Uncirculated" condition sold for $1,300 (USD) at auction on June 26, 2019. Specimen notes that were removed from booklets and found their way into circulation are worth significantly more than their A-A block counterparts.


See also

* Allied Military Currency * Japanese invasion money * Japanese military currency (1937–1945) * Military payment certificate


References

{{Japanese currency and coinage Japanese yen Banknotes of military authorities Okinawa under United States occupation Currencies of Japan