New Taiwan dollar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids New Taiwan dollar
ISO 4217 Code	TWD
User(s)
Inflation	0.85%
Source	[1] 2008–2018
Method	CPI 10-year average
Subunit
1⁄10	Jiǎo (角)
1⁄100	Fēn (分) Subunits used only in stocks and currency transactions, and are rarely referred to
Symbol	NT$, 元, $
Nickname	Mandarin: 元 (yuán), 塊 (kuài) Hokkien: 箍 (kho͘ ) Hakka: 銀 (ngiùn)
Jiǎo (角)	Mandarin: 毛 (máo) Hokkien: 角 (kak) Hakka: 角 (kok)
Fēn (分)	Hokkien: 仙 (sian) Hakka: 仙 (siên)
Plural	The language(s) of this currency does not have a morphological plural distinction.
Coins
Freq. used	NT$1, NT$5, NT$10, NT$50
Rarely used	1⁄2¢, 1¢, 2¢, 5¢, 10¢, 20¢, 50¢, NT$20
Banknotes
Freq. used	NT$100, NT$500, NT$1000
Rarely used	NT$200, NT$2000
Printer	Central Engraving and Printing Plant

The New Taiwan dollar (code: TWD; symbol: NT$, also called NT) is the official money used in Taiwan. It has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949. It replaced the Old Taiwan dollar at a rate of 40,000 old dollars for every one new dollar.

The main unit of the New Taiwan dollar is called a yuan. This yuan can be divided into ten chiao or 100 fen. However, in daily life, people almost never use chiao or fen.

People in Taiwan use different informal names for the currency units. The dollar unit is often written simply as 元. But for official things like banking, it must be written as 圓.

In regular conversations, people call the dollar 元 (yuán, meaning "circle") or 塊 (kuài, meaning "piece") in Mandarin. In Hokkien, it's called 箍 (kho͘, meaning "hoop"). And in Hakka, it's 銀 (ngiùn, meaning "silver").

The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has been in charge of issuing the New Taiwan Dollar since 2000. Before that, the Bank of Taiwan issued the banknotes. This bank acted like the central bank from 1949 to 1961. After 1961, it continued to issue notes for the central bank. In July 2000, the central bank started issuing its own New Taiwan dollar banknotes. The older notes from the Bank of Taiwan were then taken out of use.

Understanding Currency Names

The word "new" (新) is usually only added in formal situations. This helps avoid any confusion, even though there's hardly any confusion today. You might see it in banking, contracts, or when exchanging money.

The currency unit name can be written as 圓 or 元. Both are pronounced yuán in Mandarin. But they sound different in Taiwanese Hokkien (îⁿ, goân) and Hakka (yèn, ngièn).

The name 仙 for cent in Taiwanese Hokkien and Hakka likely comes from the Japanese word sen. This was a small unit of money used during the time Japan ruled Taiwan.

In English, the New Taiwan dollar is often shortened to NT, NT$, or NT dollar. The abbreviation TWD is mainly used when talking about money exchange rates. Smaller parts of a New Taiwan dollar (like cents) are rarely used. This is because most things you buy cost a whole number of dollars. However, banks still keep track of cents.

History of Taiwan's Money

The different currencies called yuan or dollar in China, as well as the Japanese yen, all came from the Spanish dollar. China brought in many Spanish dollars from Spanish America through the Spanish Philippines. This happened during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade from the 1500s to the 1900s.

After the Spanish dollar and Chinese silver yuan were used in Taiwan, the Taiwanese yen was issued in 1895. Then came the Old Taiwan dollar in 1946.

The Bank of Taiwan first released the New Taiwan dollar on June 15, 1949. It replaced the Old Taiwan dollar at a rate of 40,000 old dollars for every one new dollar. The main reason for the New Taiwan dollar was to stop the very high inflation. This inflation was a big problem for the Nationalist government in China because of the Chinese Civil War.

After the communists took over Beijing in January 1949, the Nationalists moved to Taiwan. The government then announced that the dollars issued by the Bank of Taiwan would become the new money.

Even though the New Taiwan dollar was the main money in Taiwan, older laws still said that the silver yuan was the official currency. One silver yuan was said to be worth NT$3. This value has not changed, even with many years of inflation. This means the silver yuan is now just a symbolic currency.

In July 2000, the New Taiwan dollar officially became Taiwan's legal currency. It was no longer secondary to the silver yuan. At this time, the central bank started issuing new New Taiwan dollar banknotes. The older notes from the Bank of Taiwan were then taken out of circulation.

The value of the New Taiwan dollar compared to the United States dollar has changed over time. In the mid-1950s, it was less than ten to one. In the 1960s, it was more than forty to one. By 1992, it was about twenty-five to one. In July 2021, the exchange rate was about NT$27.93 for one US dollar.

Coins of Taiwan

Here are the coins currently used in Taiwan:

The Central Mint makes the coins, and the Central Engraving and Printing Plant prints the banknotes. Both are managed by the Central Bank.

The 50¢ coin is not often seen because it has a low value. The NT$20 coin is also rare because the government hasn't pushed for its use. In 2010, the materials to make a 50¢ coin cost more than the coin's actual value!

Banknotes of Taiwan

The current series of New Taiwan dollar banknotes started being used in July 2000. This happened when the New Taiwan dollar officially became the main currency in Taiwan.

The current banknotes include NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1000, and NT$2000. The NT$200 and NT$2000 banknotes are not used very often by people. This might be because people often use several NT$100 or NT$500 bills instead of an NT$200 bill. For larger amounts, they might use several NT$1000 bills or credit/debit cards instead of an NT$2000 bill. Also, the government hasn't promoted these banknotes much.

It is easy for the government to give out these banknotes through places like the post office, tax offices, or state-owned banks.

The 2000 version of the $500 note and the 1999 version of the $1000 note (both without a holographic strip) were officially taken out of circulation on August 1, 2007. You could exchange them at commercial banks until September 30, 2007. After that date, only the Bank of Taiwan would accept these notes.

Special 100-dollar Note

On January 6, 2011, the Central Bank of the Republic of China released a special 100-dollar banknote. This note celebrated 100 years since the founding of the Republic of China.

This red paper note is 145 × 70 mm in size. It looks very similar to the regular NT$100 note. It features a picture of Dr. Sun Yat-sen on the front and the Chung-Shan Building on the back. The only difference is some Chinese words on the back that say "Celebrating 100 years since the founding of the Republic of China (慶祝中華民國建國一百年)".

How Exchange Rates Work

Most traded currencies by value
Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover

Rank	Currency	ISO 4217 code (symbol)	% daily share (April 2016)
1	United States dollar	USD ($)	87.6%
2	Euro	EUR (€)	31.4%
3	Japanese yen	JPY (¥)	21.6%
4	Pound sterling	GBP (£)	12.8%
5	Australian dollar	AUD ($)	6.9%
6	Canadian dollar	CAD ($)	5.1%
7	Swiss franc	CHF (Fr)	4.8%
8	Chinese yuan	CNY (¥)	4.0%
9	Swedish krona	SEK (kr)	2.2%
10	New Zealand dollar	NZD ($)	2.1%
11	Mexican peso	MXN ($)	1.9%
12	Singapore dollar	SGD ($)	1.8%
13	Hong Kong dollar	HKD ($)	1.7%
14	Norwegian krone	NOK (kr)	1.7%
15	South Korean won	KRW (₩)	1.7%
16	Turkish lira	TRY (₺)	1.4%
17	Russian ruble	RUB (₽)	1.1%
18	Indian rupee	INR (₹)	1.1%
19	Brazilian real	BRL (R$)	1.0%
20	South African rand	ZAR (R)	1.0%
Other			7.1%
Total Most traded currencies by value Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover Rank Currency ISO 4217 code Symbol or abbreviation Proportion of daily volume, April 2019 Proportion of daily volume, April 2022 1 U.S. dollar USD US$ 88.3% 88.5% 2 Euro EUR € 32.3% 30.5% 3 Japanese yen JPY ¥ / 円 16.8% 16.7% 4 Sterling GBP £ 12.8% 12.9% 5 Renminbi CNY ¥ / 元 4.3% 7.0% 6 Australian dollar AUD A$ 6.8% 6.4% 7 Canadian dollar CAD C$ 5.0% 6.2% 8 Swiss franc CHF CHF 5.0% 5.2% 9 Hong Kong dollar HKD HK$ 3.5% 2.6% 10 Singapore dollar SGD S$ 1.8% 2.4% 11 Swedish krona SEK kr 2.0% 2.2% 12 South Korean won KRW ₩ / 원 2.0% 1.9% 13 Norwegian krone NOK kr 1.8% 1.7% 14 New Zealand dollar NZD NZ$ 2.1% 1.7% 15 Indian rupee INR ₹ 1.7% 1.6% 16 Mexican peso MXN $ 1.7% 1.5% 17 New Taiwan dollar TWD NT$ 0.9% 1.1% 18 South African rand ZAR R 1.1% 1.0% 19 Brazilian real BRL R$ 1.1% 0.9% 20 Danish krone DKK kr 0.6% 0.7% 21 Polish złoty PLN zł 0.6% 0.7% 22 Thai baht THB ฿ 0.5% 0.4% 23 Israeli new shekel ILS ₪ 0.3% 0.4% 24 Indonesian rupiah IDR Rp 0.4% 0.4% 25 Czech koruna CZK Kč 0.4% 0.4% 26 UAE dirham AED د.إ 0.2% 0.4% 27 Turkish lira TRY ₺ 1.1% 0.4% 28 Hungarian forint HUF Ft 0.4% 0.3% 29 Chilean peso CLP CLP$ 0.3% 0.3% 30 Saudi riyal SAR ﷼ 0.2% 0.2% 31 Philippine peso PHP ₱ 0.3% 0.2% 32 Malaysian ringgit MYR RM 0.1% 0.2% 33 Colombian peso COP COL$ 0.2% 0.2% 34 Russian ruble RUB ₽ 1.1% 0.2% 35 Romanian leu RON L 0.1% 0.1% … Other 2.2% 2.5% Total 200.0% 200.0% || style="text-align:right;" | 200.0%

See also

In Spanish: Nuevo dólar taiwanés para niños

• Old Taiwan dollar
• Economy of Taiwan
• Taxation in Taiwan
• History of the Republic of China
• ROC consumer voucher