Status: U Return-Path: Received: from web5202.mail.yahoo.com ([216.115.106.170]) by hazard.mail.mindspring.net (Earthlink Mail Service) with SMTP id tki1du.aac.37kb01i for ; Sun, 8 Jul 2001 21:15:42 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <20010709011541.29781.qmail@web5202.mail.yahoo.com> Received: from [206.233.12.3] by web5202.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP; Sun, 08 Jul 2001 18:15:41 PDT Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 18:15:41 -0700 (PDT) From: MPCgram Subject: MPCGram 387 To: MPCGram@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii ============================================== MPC Gram ============================================== Covering the Entire World of Military Numismatics ----------------------------------------------- Series 002-Number 387 Sunday, July 8, 2001 Chinese Military Occupation Notes in Viet Nam and Laos by Howard A. Daniel III Toward the end of World War II, the United Nations assigned the Republic of China to take the Japanese surrender in French Indochina north of the 16th parallel and the British to take it in the south. The Chinese government planned on using some of their 1945 notes overprinted with something like "For use in Viet Nam" just under the Central Bank of China across the top center of the notes. Some samples were printed and they are Pick-269A 5 yuan and Pick-276 50 yuan. Someone in Hong Kong produced a fake over stamp on some Pick-273 50 yuan notes in the 1980's and/or 1990's, so beware of them. For some reason the legally overprinted notes were not accepted or there was not enough time to produce enough for the Chinese military to carry into Viet Nam and Laos. So they decided to use the earliest "a" varieties of the Pick-323 - 331: 10 Cents, 20 Cents, 1 CGU (Customs Gold Units), 5 CGU, 10 CGU, 20 CGU, 50 CGU, 100 CGU and 250 CGU notes. I decided to add the Pick-332 note because it is slimly possible to have been used too. This latter note, and all of the other notes, were found on some North Vietnamese Army personnel captured in the Vietnam War by U.S. military personnel. They were in ones and twos and folded away in their wallets. I do not consider them as Military Payment Certificates (MPC), but Military Occupation Currency (MOC). The "Yunnan Army" was the closest Chinese Army unit to Viet Nam and Laos, but they were not selected to take the Japanese surrender there for that reason. The commander (warlord) of the "Yunnan Army" was a political enemy of the central government and they used this mission to overthrow his provincial government after he and his commanders were in Viet Nam and Laos long enough to let their guard down. When the regulars in the "Yunnan Army" were released to head into Viet Nam and Laos, they did not have ANY money, so they did their normal robbing and pillaging of everything and everyone they came into contact with as they marched south. The war lord, his commanders and high-ranking people from the central government flew into Hanoi after it was secured with several plane loads of the above notes. They forced the Bank of Indochina to make the exchange rate between their notes at 1 CGU to 1 piastre. The piastre still had some value and was about to increase in value as the French started taking over their former colony. So the Chinese notes were grossly over valued and the Chinese used them to "buy" everything in sight for their use and/or haul it back to China. As other Chinese arrived to participate in the party, they brought in other Chinese notes, but they were often refused because they were not CGU, but some people had to take them at the point of a bayonet. The "Yunnan Army" arrived in late 1945 and did not leave until well into 1946 when the French signed away their areas in China and gave some other concessions. One of the concessions was that some of the "Yunnan Army" could stay behind in Viet Nam (and a few in Laos), because the Chinese knew by then that the central government was taking over their province. Many of these "stay-behind" Chinese (and their descendents) were those who the Vietnamese and Lao sent back to China in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The Vietnamese and Lao have long-held memories of the robbing and pillaging by these Chinese. Do you think the above notes should be cataloged in a future edition of "World War II Remembered"? Do you think a note should be added in the Pick Volume Two to identify them as Military Occupation Currency (MOC) in Viet Nam and Laos while the Chinese took the Japanese surrender and shipped them back to Japan? In the near future, I will write more about other WWII numismatic pieces that the "Yunnan Army" was involved with in Laos and North Viet Nam during this time. =============================================== Editorial ----------------------------------------------- I was exhausted each day at the ANA military money seminar. It was an orgy of notes, but at the end of day I was very tired. Now that I am home, I am jealous of those at the second week which started today. As mentioned last week, there is the possibility of having two weeks worth of seminar next year. We have lots to think about and decide before we can plan on that and we will need your help on those things! We will talk about those things here in the next few weeks. ============================================== Mail Call ----------------------------------------------- Dear Gram, Howard mentioned the Korean counterfeits briefly in my latest MPCgram. There is an amazing amount of information on this operation. Once I started to research the program data was not hard to find. I found a number of people who were involved in the operation and have spoken to three of them. The bank notes were the 100 won note of North Korea (Pick 11) and they seem to have been made in great bulk in Japan. They were taken into North Korea by agents, some infiltrated by air, others by boat. The money served a dual purpose, the destruction of the North Korean economy and to be used by the agents in the north to purchase supplies, pay bribes etc. I am still gathering data, but there seems no doubt that this was a major black operation during the Korean War. I requested data on those strange Azad Hind (Free India) notes in a recent MPCgram. I have already forwarded that article to the IBNS Journal. Fred and Joe show three such notes in "WWII Remembered." During the course of my research I turned up no less than 50 such notes. I will show about 8 of them in the article due to be printed about October. Herb F. Dear Gram, The millenium's first seminarians are now part of history. Professors Boling and Schwan have launched the class of 2001! Was there a "Summa Cum Laude" chosen? Will they exemplify the leadership of the soon forgotten past? Is there a future publisher of"Galaxy Wars III" among them? Am I asking to many questions? In my crass effort at hilarity my real intent is to wish the class a successful collecting future and a never ending learning experience. R.A. Medina Dear Gram: In response to a recent gram note by Frank Clark, I would like to confirm that MPC $5 note wrappers were red. For the fractional notes, I have recorded the following: 5 cent were black 10 cent were brown 25 cent were green 50 cent were purple I'm sure you have this info in SB already but you did not respond to that question. ED Hello Ed, Thanks for writing. I do not think that we had this info it will go in the book today. Editor Dear Gram: Would it be possible to list any of the events scheduled in the UK? Regards Pam Dear Pam, We are delighted to include the UK events in the schedule below. Please watch the listing for mistakes and please send updates as appropriate. We especially want information on why the particular shows will be of interest to military money collectors. The same goes for other organizers world wide. Editor ================================================ Departments --------------------------------------------------- Calendar of events for Gramsters maintained by Howard Daniel, John Wilson and Gram staff ---------------------------------------------------- June 28-July 1, 2001, Mid America Coin Expo, Sponsored by Numismatic News, Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont, IL Auction by B & M - No paper money. About 125 tables July 5-8, 2001, Clearwater Coin Show, Clearwater, FL Over 100 tables July 13-15, 2001, Eastern States Numismatic Expo, Brandywine Terrace, Claymont / Wilmington, DE Probably over 100 tables August 2-5, 2001, 42nd Blue Ridge Numismatic Association, Dalton, GA (about one hour drive from the ANA Atlanta convention the following week) Over 150 Dealers Auction by Lucien Birkler, Washington, D.C. from M & M August 4-5, 2001 Meridian Area Coin Club Coin & Currency Show, Howard Johnson Inn, Meridian, MS August 7-12, 2001, ANA Convention at the Cobb Galleria Center, Atlanta, GA AUGUST 16-19. 2001, 41st Missouri Numismatic Society Coin Festival, Hilton St. Louis Airport St. Louis, MO August 17-19, 2001, Ohio Coin Expo, Cleveland, OH, 125 tables, August 23-26, 2001, CSNS Fall Convention hosted by the MSNS in Dearborn, MI Auction by NTL/Scotsman Coins, Hyatt Regency Dearborn August 23-25, 2001, New England Coin Expo, Holiday Inn, Mansfield, MA, 130 tables August 25-26, 2001, Golden State Coin Show, CSNS 109th Convention & NASC Masonic Temple Arcadia, CA August 31-Sept. 1-2, 2001, Ohio State Coin Show, Columbus Ohio Host CNS/COINS, Marriott North World Paper Money Fair, run by London Chapter of IBNS October 6/7, 2001 Spink Auction October 5, 2001 Phillips Auction October 4, 2001 My London Paper Money Fairs are: July 15/September 2/November 18, 2001 Important 2002 events Lyn Kinght auction of Leo May collection, Chicago, Feb 2002 MPCFest III, Port Clinton, Ohio March 2002 WWII numismatics seminar at ANA Summer Seminar, July 2002 --------------------------------------------------- Donations are now being accepted for scholarships to the 2002 "Military Money" course at the 2002 ANA Summer Seminar. Inquiries and donations should be sent to: Military Numismatists c/o Marcus Turner 8103 East US Highway 36 Suite 163 Avon, IN 46123 FINAL LIST OF SCHOLARSHIP BENEFACTORS for 2001 David Amey, Mr. Anonymous Donor, Mike Cummings, Sue and Keith Bauman, Ed B., Doug Bell, Tom Denly, Continental Coin Invensor, Inc., Denly's, Howard Daniel, R. A. Medina, Harold “MPCKid” Kroll, Leo "Paymaster" May, Mrs. R.C. Matherne, Bill McNease, Marv Mericle, Mel and Jeremy Steinberg, Marcus Turner, Larry Ski, Guido, Fred, PK6, Joel Shafer, World Wide Ventures, Pam West, John and Nancy Wilson, Neil Shafer, W. E. Yanchick, Mark Watson, Al Glaser, Phil Goldstein, Rod Hardy, Wesley Hardy, Gary Hicks, Jack Lippincott, Ian Marshall, Kevin Maloy, David Seelye, Nick Schrier, Elmer Smith, Dan Swartz, Tom Warburton, Dick Freyser, Tim Kyzivat ==================================================== Post/Base Exchange (PX/BX/NEX) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale will be run here for free. Send your ads to the gram. This service is for everyone, most humble dealer or most advanced collector. The point is to make the gram more interesting. Send in a list of items for sale and we will list them here in the gram. In all cases confirm your order via email first. FOR SALE The following is something for your Post Exchange; For Sale: series 521 10 cents second printing 5 notes in serial number order CH.UNC $150.00 postpaid insured. coinman@rochester.rr.com "Dependents Guide to Japan" booklet for sale. It mentions MPC and other financial "stuff," but there is not a date anywhere in it. The binding is Japanese style and it is in nice condition. $10.00 postpaid. Please do not send money until I confirm you are the first email I receive at Howard@SEAsianTreasury.com. Your items for sale will be listed in the Gram for FREE. Send your listings now. You items for sale support the gram by making it more interesting for everyone! For sale; Netherlands Ministerie Van Oorlog 25 Gulden Pick M3. UNC US$950.00 postpaid, registered mail. coinman@rochester.rr.com New discovery found in Memphis! Unlisted in Schwan/Boling! German Occupied Poland, 1 Punkt (Point) ration note for Vodka. http://www.papermoneyworld.com/mat/vodka.jpg $15 postage paid. Payment is by cash, personal check or paypal (until I reach my monthly receiving limit). Please reserve by e-mail at marcus@papermoneyworld.com. WANTED Collectors may submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here. Dealers and collectors who have these items are then encouraged to list them or sale in the above section. This is a trial, if you like it, send your list. =================================================== Staff: publisher and editor: Fred Schwan - fred@papermoneyworld.com; assistant editor - Phil Goldstein IWANTMYMPC@aol.com Tuesday columnist Joe Boling – JoeBoling@aol.com Thurski columnist Larry “Ski” Smulczenski – ski@papermoneyworld.com critic: Harold Kroll - MPCKid@papermoneyworld.com; index manager: Ed Beaman webmaster & technical advisor: Doug Bell - (Wiz): doug@papermoneyworld.com; The Boss: Judy Schwan ===== MPC Gram is published by BNR Press and papermoneyworld.com as a free service to the community of military money collectors. Your suggestions, criticisms, complaints, editorial contributions, letters, and even praise are very welcome. The entire contents including linked illustrations are copyright protected by the publishers. In the case of contributors, the copyright is protected on behalf of the creators. Please send all correspondence regarding the gram to MPCgram@yahoo.com. Thank you very much for your participation. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/