Japanese Notes for Invasion of the United States

[rbrown4]

While going through my father's coin collection, we have run across various currency. One item which I am having difficulty finding out about is a set of nine different notes that are in an Envelope that says Japanese Notes for Invasion of the United States. 1C-$1,000.00.

 

Any information regarding these notes would be greatly appreciated. Are they something that is somewhat collectible or something that is more a common novelty item from the war.

 

Thanks,

 

Rey

[jtryka]

I've seen a lot of notes from other areas, like the Philippines, but never for the USA.

[rbrown4]

Here are some photographs of the set. The first one is the envelope they came in. It references "page 600-May 1946 Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine for detail history."

 

 

 

 

[jtryka]

Those are extremely cool, unfortunately they were issued not for the US, but for Malaya as far as I can tell. I did a quick search of eBay and there are a number of auctions for them, the most common seems to be the $10 notes (most are going for less than $1 each). I have never seen the $100 or $1,000 notes before, so they might be worth something more.

[jtryka]

I just checked the Heritage archives, and there was a set like this sold in 2004 for $14, so it likely has gone up some since then. For this auction, it noted that their opinion was that the $10, $100 and $1000 were reproductions, so this may or may not be true of yours.

 

This was their description:

 

"Malaya - Japanese Invasion Money Nine Pieces. This set was sold by the Tatham Stamp & Coin Company probably around 1950, and consists of 1¢ through $1000 denominations. The set perpetuates the myth that these notes were for the planned invasion of the United States, and not for their actual use in Malaya. It is this cataloguer's opinion that at least the $10, $100, and $1000 denominations are photogravure reproductions."

[rbrown4]

Thank you very much for the information and going to the trouble to find it. It is much appreciated. I will take a look myself, now that you gave me some more info. One of the stranger things that I did not mention is that the black rectangular bar at the top of the envelop is magic marker that is over "Complet Set of Ten Different" The sentence below where it references Nine wasa typed in after the fact.

 

I will see what more I can find out.

 

Thanks,

[rbrown4]

Moving to Market Place for a few days then to Ebay.

 

Rey

[numismatica]

 

They are all common. The $1000 note is heavily counterfeited, but even a real one is not rare and can be had (circulated) for under $10. Most are circulated though, so you have to be suspect if you have one in Unc.

[rbrown4]

Thank you, I have not been able to really track down the history of this set. All I know is that my father purchased back in the 50's. More a novelty item I presume, just wanting to pass it on to someone that may have interest in it.

 

Thanks,

 

Rey

[Scott B]

I always preferred this one when talking about that era:

 

 

For those who don't know about these, BEP issued $1 and $10 notes with HAWAII printed on the back. This way, if the Japanese captured Hawaii, the US government could demonetize those notes immediately. Thankfully, the government did not have to do that.

 

This note is part of a special set I purchased at the Arizona Memorial. If you are interested, you can read more about it here, on my blog/

 

Scott

[rbrown4]

Great bit of history that I was not aware of, interesting Scott.

 

Rey

[123cents]

Here is another $1.00 Hawaii SC