New Taiwan dollar

The New Taiwan dollar[upper-roman 1] (code: TWD; symbol: NT$, also abbreviated as NT) is the official currency used in Taiwan. Formally, one dollar (圓) is divided into ten dimes (角), and to 100 cents (分), although cents are never used in practice. The New Taiwan dollar has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949, when it replaced the Old Taiwan dollar, at a rate of 40,000 old dollars per one new dollar.[1]

"TWD" redirects here. For other uses, see TWD (disambiguation).

New Taiwan dollar
新臺幣[upper-roman 1]
NT$500 banknote obverseNT$1000 banknote obverse
ISO 4217
CodeTWD
Number901
Exponent2
Denominations
Subunit
 ​1⁄10dime
 ​1⁄100cent
Subunits used only in stocks and currencies, and rarely referred to in such cases.
Pluraldollars (English only)
The language(s) of this currency do(es) not have a morphological plural distinction.
 dimedimes (English only)
 centcents (English only)
SymbolNT$, 圓, $
NicknameMandarin: 元 (yuán), 塊 (kuài)
Taiwanese: 箍 (kho͘ )
Hakka: 銀 (ngiùn)
 dimeMandarin: 角 (jiǎo), 毛 (máo)
Taiwanese: 角 (kak)
Hakka: 角 (kok)
 centMandarin: 分 (fēn)
Hokkien: 仙 (sian)
Hakka: 仙 (siên)
Banknotes
 Freq. usedNT$100, NT$500, NT$1000
 Rarely usedNT$200, NT$2000
Coins
 Freq. usedNT$1, NT$5, NT$10, NT$50
 Rarely usedNT$​1⁄2, NT$20
Demographics
Date of introduction15 June 1949
ReplacedOld Taiwan dollar
User(s) Taiwan (Republic of China)
Issuance
Central bankCentral Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
 Websitewww.cbc.gov.tw
PrinterCentral Engraving and Printing Plant
 Websitewww.cepp.gov.tw
MintCentral Mint
 Websitewww.cmc.gov.tw
Valuation
Inflation0.85%
 Source 2008–2018
 MethodCPI 10-year average
New Taiwan dollar
Traditional Chinese新臺幣
Simplified Chinese新台币
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese新臺票

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 as 元, except when writing it for legal transactions such as at the bank, when it has to be written as 圓. Colloquially, the currency unit is called 塊 (kuài, literally "piece") in Mandarin, 箍 (kho͘, literally "hoop") in Taiwanese Hokkien, and 銀 (ngiùn, literally "silver") in Hakka.

The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan), which has been the central bank of Taiwan since 2000, issues the New Taiwan dollar. While the Bank of Taiwan issued banknotes prior to 2000, it was also the de facto central bank between 1949 and 1961.

Terminology
MandarinTaiwanese HokkienHakkaEnglishSymbol
Currency nameFormal 新臺幣 (Xīntáibì)新臺票 (Sin-tâi-phiò)新臺幣 (Sîn-thòi-pi)New Taiwan DollarNTD, TWD
Other 臺幣 (Táibì)臺票 (Tâi-phiò)臺幣 (Thòi-pi)
1 Unit nameFormal 圓 (yuán)箍 (kho͘ )銀 (ngiùn), 箍 (khiêu)dollar$
Other 元 (yuán), 塊 (kuài)
​1⁄10 Unit nameFormal 角 (jiǎo)角 (kak)角 (kok)dime
Other 毛 (máo)
​1⁄100 Unit name 分 (fēn)仙 (sian)仙 (siên)cent¢

The adjective "new" (新) 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 in 圓 or 元, which are interchangeable. They are both pronounced yuán in Mandarin. But they have different pronunciations in Taiwanese Hokkien (îⁿ, goân) and Hakka (yèn, ngièn). The name 仙 in Taiwanese Hokkien and Hakka for cent is likely from the hundredth unit 錢 (sen) of Japanese era Taiwanese yen 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 New Taiwan dollar was first issued by the Bank of Taiwan on 15 June 1949, to replace the Old Taiwan dollar at a ratio of 40,000 to one. The first goal of the New Taiwan dollar was to end the hyperinflation that had plagued Nationalist China due to the Chinese Civil War.

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 Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion that dollars issued by the Bank of Taiwan would become the new currency in circulation.[2]

Even though the New Taiwan dollar was the de facto currency of Taiwan, for years the silver yuan remained the legal currency. The value of the silver yuan was decoupled from the value of silver during World War II. Many older statutes have fines and fees given in this currency.

According to statute, one silver yuan is worth three New Taiwan dollars.[3] Despite decades of inflation, this ratio has not been adjusted. This made the silver yuan a purely notational currency long ago, nearly impossible to buy, sell, or use.

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.[2] 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 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 December 2019 is NT$30.37 per US$.[4]

Coins

The denominations of the New Taiwan dollar in circulation are:

Currently Circulating Coins
ImageValueTechnical parametersDescriptionDate of
DiameterWeightCompositionObverseReversefirst mintingissue
NT$​1⁄218 mm3 g 97% copper
2.5% zinc
0.5% tin		 Mei Blossom, "中華民國XX年"[5] Value 1981
(Minguo year 70)		 1981-12-08[6]
NT$120 mm3.8 g 92% copper
6% nickel
2% aluminium		 Chiang Kai-shek, "中華民國XX年" 1981-12-08[6]
NT$522 mm4.4 g Cupronickel
75% copper
25% nickel		 Chiang Kai-shek, "中華民國XX年" Value 1981
(Minguo year 70)		 1981-12-08[6]
NT$10 26 mm 7.5 g
Sun Yat-sen, "中華民國XX年" Value, continuous hidden words "國泰", "民安", continuous hidden Taiwan island and Mei Blossom in "0" 2011
(Minguo year 100)		 2011-01-11[6]
NT$2026.85 mm8.5 g Ring: Aluminium bronze (as $50)
Center: Cupronickel (as $10)		 Mona Rudao, "莫那魯道",[7] "中華民國XX年" Traditional canoes used by the Tao people 2001
(Minguo year 90)		 2001-07-09[8]
NT$5028 mm10 g Aluminium bronze
92% copper
6% aluminium
2% nickel		 Sun Yat-sen, "中華民國XX年" Latent images of both Chinese and Arabic numerals for 50 2002
(Minguo year 91)		 2002-04-26[9]

Coins are minted by the Central Mint, while notes are printed by the Central Engraving and Printing Plant. Both are run by the Central Bank. The NT$​1⁄2 coin is rare because of its low value, while the NT$20 coin is rare because of the government's lack of willingness to promote it. As of 2010, the cost of the raw materials in a NT$​1⁄2 coin was more than the face value of the coin.

Banknotes
Main article: Fifth series of the new Taiwan dollar banknote

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 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 ruling party at the time the two denominations were issued. The conspiracy states that putting Chiang Kai-shek 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).

1999 Series
ImageValueDimensionsMain ColorDescriptionDate ofRemark
ObverseReverseWatermarkprintingissuewithdrawal
NT$100 145 × 70 mm Red Sun Yat-sen, "The Chapter of Great Harmony" by Confucius Chung-Shan Building Mei flower and numeral 100 2000
(Minguo 89)		 2001-07-02
NT$200 150 × 70 mm Green Chiang Kai-shek, theme of land reform and public education Presidential Office Building Orchid and numeral 200 2001
(Minguo year 90)		 2002-01-02
NT$500 155 × 70 mm Brown Youth baseball Formosan sika deer and Dabajian Mountain Bamboo and numeral 500 2000
(Minguo year 89)		 2000-12-15 2007-08-01 without holographic strip
2004
(Minguo 93)		 2005-07-20 with holographic strip
NT$1000 160 × 70 mm Blue Elementary Education
(1999 errors[10][11])		 Mikado pheasant and Yushan (Jade Mountain) Chrysanthemum and numeral 1000 1999
(Minguo year 88)		 2000-07-03 2007-08-01 without holographic strip
2004
(Minguo year 93)		 2005-07-20 with holographic strip
NT$2000 165 × 70 mm Purple FORMOSAT-1, technology Formosan landlocked salmon and Mount Nanhu Pine and numeral 2000 2001
(Minguo year 90)		 2002-07-01 with holographic strip

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 accepts such notes.[12]

100-dollar commemorative note
100-dollar commemorative note, with the commemorative text

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 (慶祝中華民國建國一百年)".[13]

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See also

Notes

Words in native languages
  • Yale Romanization: Sāntòihbaih
  • Jyutping: san1 toi4 bai6

References
  1. Chuang, Chi-ting (17 February 2001). "Legislator pans new bank notes". Taipei Times. p. 4.
  2. Chuang, Chi-ting (17 February 2001). "Legislator pans new bank notes". Taipei Times.
  3. s:Regulation of exchange rate between new Taiwan dollars and the fiat currency in the ROC laws
  4. Google Finance. "US Dollar / New Taiwan Dollar". Google. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  5. "zhonghua minguo XX", "中華民國" is the also the state title "Republic of China", an era name of the Minguo calendar.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) 中央銀行發行之貨幣及偵偽鈔辨識
  7. Mona Rudao, anti-Japanese leader of the Wushe Incident.
  8. 20元新硬幣亮相！ (in Chinese). 大紀元. 5 July 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
  9. 郭文平 (25 April 2007). 新版50元硬幣 明發行 (in Chinese). 自由時報. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
  10. Commons:Category:Taiwan $1000 banknote 1999 edition
  11. Taiwan's 1999 $1000 bill globe reversed
  12. 劉姿麟、蔣紀威 (31 July 2007). 8/1新制∕健保費漲價　金融機構舊鈔換新鈔延至9月底 (in Chinese). ETToday. Retrieved 20 August 2007.
  13. The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (6 January 2011). "Issue a commemorative NT$100 banknote for circulation and uncut commemorative NT$100 currency sheets in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China on January 6, 2011".
  • New NT$500 and NT$1000 banknotes introduced, anti-counterfeit measures taken Taiwan News (online), 20 July 2005
Current TWD exchange rates
From Google Finance: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR CNY TRY
From Yahoo! Finance: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR CNY TRY
From XE.com: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR CNY TRY
From OANDA: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR CNY TRY
From fxtop.com: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD INR CNY TRY
Preceded by:
Old Taiwan dollar
Reason: inflation
Ratio: 1 new dollar = 40,000 old dollars		 Currency of Taiwan
1949 –
Note: After the communists took over most of Mainland China, the government of the Republic of China controlled only Taiwan and some offshore islands.		 Succeeded by:
Current
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