Niewmismatic Error Coins

Malayan JIM Notes With V-J (VICTORY Over JAPAN) Overprients.

On the night of 10 August 1945, Japan expressed her acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and willingness to surrender.On 15 August,Emperor Horohito went on Radio Tokyo to declare the termination of war and ordered all Japanese to lay down their arms.The Allies accepted the unconditional surrender and all offensive actions were ended.The formal instrument of surrender was singed abroad the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.

The Allies proclaimed 15 August as V-J DAY (VICTORY OVER JAPAN),in commemoration of the end of the Pacific war.

Adm. Mountbatten,Supreme Allied Commander of SE Asia personally accepted the Japanese surrender in Singapore on 12 September 1945. Supreme Commander of the South Army,Field Marshall Hisaichi was gravely ill at the time of the surrender and the task was delegated to Lt.Gen. Takuma. The surrender attested the end of three years and eight months of draconian Japanese military rule.

When the British military regained Singapore on 5 September, the Straits dollar was reinstated. In response to British officials' inquiry on the total face value of invasion notes issued during the period of their occupation, the Japanese could not ascertain the amount as their resident forces were printing their own notes indiscriminately and they could only gauge by the weight of paper used in the printing. An estimate of $7~8 billion had been issued during the Japanese occupation. Within three years and eight months, the Japanese managed 30 to 40 times more than what the British had ever issued in Straits dollars! In reality, estimation by weight was grossly unreliable, for the amount printed per denomination as in $1, $5, $10, $100 and $1000 could not be determined since no records were kept. Anyhow, the brunt of the burden was brought to bear on the commonalty of Malaya and Singapore.

In Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaya, the Japanese handed over an estimate of 300 tons of invasion currency with a face value of $500 million, which the British military deemed fit for the fire. The British refusal to accredit the invasion notes had been the source of financial grief for many. According to a preliminary report by the Singapore Chinese Mobilization Council, Singapore alone had suffered a loss of $67,628,200 in Straits dollars and $270,822,000 in Japanese invasion currency.

JIM Note $5.00 With V-J Overprints.Obverse.

Dickson Niew Collection. Reverse.

To publicize the Allied victory over Japan and the demise of their invasion currency, certain party/parties (unknown) presumably in the British Government, overprinted the $5 JIM in bright red with "MALAYAN" at its top and "WAR SOUVENIR" below; with the huge letters  "VJ" in between. "Grim Memories of 1941 - 1945" was printed in black italics across "VJ". These leaflets were airdropped by the Allies beginning 20 August 1945 and they were greeted by the gleeful cheers of the people each time they made their low level passes. The $5 JIM notes used for notification leaflet overprints had two types, one with block MK and the other block MR.

JIM Note $100.00 With V-J Overprints.Obverse.

Dickson Niew Collection. Reverse.

The $10,$100 and $1000 JIM notes with 'Type MR' V-J overprints could be experimental pieces,or were produced by the printers for their own amusement.They could even possibly be modern replicas. They merit attention as although these overprints were just publicity leaflets but they were printed on genuine notes and their pedigree is difficult to trace or authenticate.

RSP:$5.00=RM2100/UNC-J11,
        $100.00=RM6500/UNC-J13.
        
Source:Wong Hon Sum-THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MALAYSIA (SINGAPORE) AND ITS CURRENCY.