A yen

A yen (A圓, A en) was a colloquial term used to refer to a form of military scrip used in post-war US-Occupied Japan, Korea, and Okinawa from September 7, 1945, to July 21, 1948. They are notable for being the first "Military Payment Certificates" (In Korea) given after World War II had ended.[1]

A yen
A yen (A円, A en)
Denominations
Plural	A yen
Symbol	¥
Banknotes	10s, 50s, 1¥, 5¥, 10¥, 20¥, 100¥
Demographics
User(s)	Occupied Japan, Korea, and Ryukyu Islands
Issuance
Central bank	• United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands  • Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea  • Bank of Japan
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

History

Throughout its two-year history "A yen" scrip was issued in three different regions in seven denominations ranging from 10 sen to 100 yen. These "A" underprinted notes were used in Japan, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands for only a little more than two months from July 19, 1946 to September 30, 1946.[2] Their usage was restricted to military forces as payment certificates rather than the civilian population which used "B Yen" scrip.[3] The only exception was in Korea where they were used as general currency from September 7, 1945 to July 10, 1946 before they too were restricted to military usage.[2] The "A yen" scrip was ultimately deprecated In all three regions on July 21, 1948 in favor of a one currency "B yen" scrip system.[3]

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.[2]

Denomination	Amount printed	Ink color
10 sen	93,456,000	Purple
50 sen	76,668,000	Blue
1 yen	66,176,000	Green
5 yen	29,840,000	Blue
10 yen	51,880,000	Green
20 yen	4,506,000	Purple
100 yen	9,140,000	Blue

Collecting

Every denomination of the Japanese "A-yen" series is considered "scarce" due to their survivability rate.[4] Civilians only had a limited time to redeem the notes before they were transferred from civilian to military usage in Korea on July 10, 1946. 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.[5] Unredeemed notes were invalidated for civilian use afterwards which essentially made them worthless to those keeping them. Another factor in their rarity include delivery in much smaller quantities than their "B" series counterparts.[2] One hundred yen banknotes are now "elusive" when it comes to overall availability to collectors.[6] The rarest element of this series though, are booklets of specimen military yen currency. These booklets include one of each denomination of "A" yen with replacement H-A serial numbers and "SPECIMEN" roulette cancels.[1]

See also

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

References

1. "Japan Allied Military Currency Supplemental A Specimen Book". Heritage Auctions. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
2. George C. Baxley. ""B" and "A" Yen B&A型軍票 - B and A - Gata Gunpyō US Military Currency". www.baxleystamps.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
3. Kadekawa, Manabu. Okinawa Champloo Encyclopedia (沖縄チャンプルー事典). Tokyo: Yama-Kei Publishers, 2001. p 176.
4. The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine. 23. Hewitt Brothers. 1957. p. 2376.
5. C. Frederick Schwan (1995). World War II Remembered: History in Your Hands, a Numismatic Study. BNR Press.
6. "Japan Allied Military Currency 100 Yen Series 100 Supplemental A Yen (1946)". Heritage Auctions. Retrieved April 7, 2020.