VICTORY LEAFLET-V-J OVERPRINT OF MALAYAN JAPANESE INVASION MONEY (JIM)

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.

9 comments:

  1. Phiit, woooo...if only we could lay our hands on them.
    Really desirable numismatic items.
    Hehe, having them surely add prestige to our collections.
    Actually, we have yet to hold a genuine one with our own hands.
    Thanks so much for sharing, Dickson :)

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  2. Hi Whycollect,
    I am lucky to be able to keep some of these rare propaganda JIM notes!

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  3. Hi Dickson,
    Wow, really objects of desire!
    Haha, this is one of the main reasons that we mentioned earlier not to behave like a red hot runaway train engine.
    These desirable banknotes, once still obtainable at reasonable costs, are now just too expensive to fit into our tight budget.
    Nowadays, we usually go for items that fit into our budget.
    Happy to see these beautiful banknotes are in your good hands, Dickson.
    Hehe, always feel wonderful to know these objects of desire are still in our own country :)

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  4. Dickson, based on my knowledge of JIM VJ overprints, the $100 above could possibly be a modern replica/forgery.

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  5. Hi Cho!
    As mentioned on the last paragraph of my post:
    "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."

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  6. hi mr dickson..
    saya ingin bertanya,mungkinkah ada JIM Note $5.00 With V-J yg palsu??jika ada mcm manakah ciri2 tersebut..sebab saya ada jumpa seller yg ingin jual duit tersebut..harga xsampai 200..saya tkt wang tersebut palsu..jadi saya ingin kepastian tersebut dari tuan..TQ

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  7. Hi NMF NIhonGO,
    JIM Note $5.00 With V-J banyak yang palsu. Tiga customer saya sudah dianiayai oleh penipu.
    Harga biasa untuk notes ini ialah RM800 dengan kondisi VF, kalau dijual tak sampai RM200, bahaya betul :Too Cheap To Be True "
    Saya kena tengok barang asal untuk buat pengesahan.

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  8. Terima kasih mr dickson atas keterangan tersebut..itu yang saya risaukan tkt jika ditipu,tambahan pula seller tersebut menjualnya d kaki lima jalan bkn kedai..jika tidak silap..cetakan VJ tersebut kelihatan basah dan warna nya terang..jika dilihat pada gambar2 di google dakwat bagi tulisan VJ tersebut kelihatan kering..tetapi saya tidak pasti,kerana ini pertama kali saya melihatnya didepan mata..jadi tidak tahu untuk membezakan nya..sekadar google sebelum ni..

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  9. Hi NMF NIhonGO,
    kamu boleh datang kedai Dickson Niew Collection Corner untuk lihat sendiri VJ $5,$10,$100 yang ori.

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