Old Money

Above, the front and back of a bill that my father, Sydney, brought back from his youthful travels, in this case, from China.  He spoke little about these adventures, but I did hear a little about his time in Shanghai back in 1939.  Especially, he recalled the Japanese troops marching in.  I had heard from Harry many years later, that my father was aboard one of the ships tasked with evacuating American citizens from China during the Japanese occupation, that is, prior to the United States entering World War II.

Looks to me like this bill was designed with both native and foreign users in mind.  What I call the front, appears entirely in Chinese, while the back has English text.