Tainan Provincial Office Currency & Banknote Values

The Greysheet Catalog (GSID) of the Tainan Provincial Office series of Taiwan in the World Currency contains 3 distinct entries with CPG® values between $950.00 and $4,800.00.

Following the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the defeated Chinese Empire of the Qing was forced to cede the island of Taiwan to the Japanese Empire under the Treaty of Shimonoseki, signed on 17 April 1895. Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years until the end of World War II in 1945.

On 23 May 1895, before Japanese expeditionary forces were able to gain administrative control of the island, several notables from central Taiwan established the Republic of Taiwan (also known as the Republic of Formosa) with its capital at Tainan, in the southwest of the island. This republic lasted only 148 days, ending on 21 October 1895 when the Japanese gained control of Tainan. The short-lived government first issued banknotes through the Tainan Provincial Office (TPO) in June 1895.