1 Fen (Hua Hsing Bank)

The 1 Fen coin was minted in 1940 by the Hua Hsing Commercial Bank, an institution established in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. This currency was issued by the Reformed Government of the Republic of China, a puppet regime set up by Imperial Japan to challenge the Nationalist government led by Chiang Kai-shek. The coin serves as a stark historical artifact of the economic warfare and occupation policies prevalent during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The design follows the aesthetic standards of the era, featuring traditional Chinese numismatic motifs alongside the specific bank branding required to establish regional economic control. It was produced at a time when the Japanese military administration sought to create a stable monetary sphere in central China to displace the circulating Nationalist yuan. Due to the political illegitimacy of the issuing authority and the eventual defeat of the Japanese forces, these coins were widely demonetized and discarded following the 1945 transition of power.