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Manchukuo Saving and Investment Products |
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Below is a selection of savings and investment products issued during the Japanese Occupation. Some of these investments were sold through Post Offices, others through banks and by other means. Most of the money raised in this way went to further Japanese colonial interests in the region or in support of the war effort. When the Japanese took control of Manchuria following the Mukden Incident in 1931, the role of the Central Bank in Manchukuo was given to the Yokohama Specie Bank. This bank already had close ties with the South Manchuria Railway. The Yokohama Specie Bank then attempted to harmonise the currency in Manchukuo with that of Japan. In Manchuria currency was based on the silver standard and in Japan the gold standard had been adopted. With regional banks still issuing banknotes based on the silver standard this harmonisation attempt was never completely successful.
The Yokohama Specie Bank Branch in Mukden In the role of Central Bank the Yokohama Specie Bank effectively controlled many important levers of the economy of the new state including all government finance. Regional industrial banks issued bonds in support of the expansion on mining, ore production, road building and steelmaking. Below is a seal used by the Yokohama Specie Bank.
The Japanese also set up a number of agricultural co-operatives which sold bonds and savings products to promote the growth of agriculture throughout Manchukuo. One main organization was the "Promotion of Agriculture Cooperative", formed around 1940. This body issued several sort of bonds, lotteries and certificates:
Most of the information and examples on this page has been supplied by Neil Kaplan who has a special interest in this subject. If you have a question, or would like to add to, or correct the information shown here please contact Neil by email neil@manchukuostamps.com he will be pleased to hear from you.
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Japan/Manchuria Postcard Advertising Bonds This postcard is attempting to raise money in support of the Japanese puppet government in Nanking (the flag was used in China up to 1928) and is an advertisement sent by Post Offices to presumably wealthy customers encouraging them to invest in bonds. The large yellow characters read "supportive bonds from the National Bank" the red characters below this read "issued through the post office". The red vertical characters show dates "from August 21st to September 1st" the year is unclear. The small blue characters on the reverse side show details of the bonds. The bond was sent from the Post Office in Okatani in Japan to a local citizen. |
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My thanks to Gerard Remijn for supplying the above translations. |
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Trade and Industry Bank of Fengtian, Fixed Rate Certificates |
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This is a Fixed Rate Bond Certificate, dated 20th March1945, from the Trade and Industry Bank of Fengtian (Mukden) for the amount of MY10,000. It is good for 1 year later: Kang de 13. Bond/certificate number 25 (as hand written on the right side of the bond). This bond has two, third regular issue, revenue stamps attached, a 2f and a 3f, giving a total value of 5f. To see the reverse click here. Size 245mm x 190mm on heavy weight, buff, un-watermarked paper. |
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This is a Fixed Rate Bond
Certificate, dated June 1945, from the Trade and Industry Bank of
Fengtian (Mukden) for the amount of MY100,000. This bond has
one 5f
third regular issue revenue stamp attached. It seems, looking at
both of the above examples, that the tax on bonds in 1945 was 5f. To
see the reverse click
here. Size 245mm x 190mm on heavy weight, buff, un-watermarked paper. |
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| Manchurian Industrial Bank Investment Certificate | ||||||||
 5000MY (Manchurian Yuan) The above investment certificate with a face value of 10,000 Manchukuo Yuan was issued by the Manchurian Industrial Bank. To realise the investment the customer was required to make a deposit of 260y each month for 36 months. Having made the monthly payments, a total of 9,360y, a sum of 640y would be added by the bank and the customer would have received a total of 10,000y. With the term completed the investment would have earned 4.5% over 3 years (or 1.5% p.a). It should be noted that the customer, probably a company, only completed 15 payments. The Certificate shows a 3f revenue stamp on the face side, paid at issue, and seems to have attracted a 10f per annum charge while in use denoted by the 10f revenue stamps on the reverse side. Other values appear below. |
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 5000MY (Manchurian Yuan)
50000MY (Manchurian Yuan) |
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Imperial Manchu Government 4% Public Loan
Certificates The bonds appear in 2 types, although not officially different, only by their designs: releases 6-20 with dragons on the side, orchids crest in black, under-print of an official building in Hsinking. Releases 24-28 have the dragons on the top, orchid crest in white top centre, no under-print. The last release #28 has an added sub-title for "Prosperous Country Short-Term Public Bond" (富国短期公债-FUGUO DUANQI GONGZHAI), this interpretation is slightly different to some books. |
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Releases
1. 20th Nov 1936 |
Maturity
Not Known |
Denomination
Y50, Y100, Y1000, Y10000, Y100000 If you are have further information about these issues please let us know. |
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| 100Y (Specimen) | ||||||||
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| 10000Y (Specimen) | ||||||||
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| 10000Y (Specimen) | ||||||||
| The bonds are engraved on watermarked, good quality, thick granite paper. The watermark shows "Imperial Manchuria Government" (大满洲政府-DA MANZHOU ZHENGFU) with wavy lines on the coupons. Size : 26cm X 19.2cm (excluding coupons) | ||||||||
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| Manchukuo Government Patriotic Public Loan Certificate | ||||||||
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| 50 Yuan Bond - 2nd release date; 1st June 1945, Maturity date : 1st June 1949. Size 21.2cm x 15.2cm on granite paper. Lithographed without a printers imprint. These bonds were sold without coupons (unlike some previous bonds issues by the Manchukuo government ). See the reverse side here. | ||||||||
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Manchukuo Government Prosperity Bond |
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5 Yuan. Issued 1942, Release 1. Size 21.1 x 14.9 cm |
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| 100 Yuan. Issued 1942, Release 2. Size 21.1 x 14.9 cm | ||||||||
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Manchukuo Government Bonds |
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| 10 Yuan. Issued in Dec 1941, Release 9. Size 25.1 x 17 cm | ||||||||
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10 Yuan. Issued in June 1942, Release 9. Size 25.1 x 17 cm. | |||||||
| .10 Yuan. Issued in June 1942, Release 10. Size 25.1 x 17 cm. | ||||||||
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10 Yuan. Issued in June 1943, Release 12. Size 25.1 x 17 cm. |
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| 10 Yuan. Issued in December 1943, Release 13. Size 25.1 x 17 cm. | ||||||||
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| Promotion of Agriculture Savings Bonds | ||||||||
| Release Dates |
Y5, Release 1,
1944 February; |
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Promotion of Agriculture Savings
bonds (兴农储蓄债卷 - Xingnong Chuxu Zhai Juan), October 1945, Release
6. Printed by the Manchu
Letterpress Printing Bureau, see the imprint 满洲凸版印刷株式会社印刷.
Size 18.5cm X 13.5cm
The Promotion of Agriculture Treasury-兴农金库 was established in September of 1943, financed by the Manchurian Central Bank. There is still some confusion or uncertainty about being actually issued to the public or not, because of the date: October of 1945. Release one started in 1944.
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| Above is an interesting cheque, printed by the Promotion of Agriculture Treasury the issuing organization of these bonds, it is in Japanese and not in Chinese. Possibly individuals wanting to cash in the above bonds, or receive some sort of payment from them, would be given these special cheques | ||||||||
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"Certain Victory" War Savings Certificates |
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| These were small non-interest bearing bonds issued to support the war effort. There were two releases, release 1 in 1944, and release 2 in 1945. Denominations issued were; 5 Chiao (50f), 1 yuan, 3 yuan, 5 yuan and 10 yuan. (The small numerals shown in the margins were used for sorting purposes only). Printers - The Manchukuo Printing Bureau. | ||||||||
| Release 1 - 1944 (Expired 31st December 1945) | ||||||||
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| 5 Chiao (50f) | 1 Yuan | 3 Yuan | 5 Yuan | 10 Yuan | ||||
| The size is 4.5cm x 10cm, printed on un-watermarked "wove" paper. This issue features bombers, a tank and has a pick and spade in the foreground. | ||||||||
| Release 2 - 1945 (Expired 31st December 1946) | ||||||||
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| 5 Chiao (50f) | 1 Yuan | 3 Yuan | 5 Yuan | 10 Yuan | ||||
| The size is 4.5cm x 10cm, printed on un-watermarked "granite" paper. This issue features fighter aircraft, a tank and has a decorative border. | ||||||||
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| Uncut part sheet of 5 Yuan Certificates (Picture courtesy of Neil Kaplan) | ||||||||
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| (Pictures courtesy of Neil Kaplan) | ||||||||
| These are vouchers issued in Antung which could be exchanged for the 50f Certain Victory Certificates. Size 107mm X 55mm. | ||||||||
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| Promotion of Agriculture (Prosperous Farmers) Savings Bonds | ||||||||
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| 1946 Uncut and unissued 50 Yuan bonds with no serial number. These bonds were printed on soft, poor quality paper with no security features such as watermarks or coloured silk threads. Size 18.5cm X 26.5cm. | ||||||||
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| Promotion of Agriculture (Prosperous Farmers) Fixed Deposit Certificates | ||||||||
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| 1943 Fixed (Deposit) Certificate 10.87Y, size 25.5cm X 19cm. printed on good quality paper with an imprint: 满洲凸版印刷株式会社印制 (Manzhou Tuban Yinshua Zhu Shi Hui She Yinzhi), Printed by the Manchu Letterpress Printing Bureau. To see the reverse click here. | ||||||||
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| 1944 Special Fixed (Deposit) Certificate 20Y, this is a smaller size than usual, 18cm X 13cm. printed on poor quality paper without an imprint. This may indicate that it is a local issue. | ||||||||
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| Chin Chou (Jinzhou) Pulp Company Ltd | ||||||||
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1939. This is a copy of a
Chin Chou (Jinzhou)
Pulp Company Ltd., Share Certificate, The certificate is for ten
shares. It is likely that this company made paper for the tobacco
industry. The certificate size is 25.8 x 81.5cm. The imprint reads 凸版印刷株式会社印刷 Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. This is a Japanese printing Company and the certificate would have been printed in Japan. |
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| North Manchurian Industries Bond | ||||||||
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This is a copy of a North Manchurian
Industries Bond, First Issue, 1941. The certificate is for ten
shares. with a value of Y50/share, thus the total value is Y500. It has a 3 fen embossed
revenue seal.
The certificate size is 25.7 x 81.2cm. The imprint reads 凸版印刷株式会社印刷 Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. |
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| Manchukuo Heavy Industry Bond | ||||||||
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The above bond represents 10 shares in
Manchukuo Heavy Industry. This would not work out to be a good
investment.
Virtually all of the heavy plant in Manchukuo was hijacked by the Russians who dismantled it and took it back to Russia, along with many of the Japanese workers who knew how to maintain and operate it. The bond has a 3 fen embossed revenue seal. |
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| SMR Bond with Certificates | ||||||||
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