Large "5" in the center, date (year 12 = 1945) and the name of the state ("Manchuguo") around / Decorative frame and denomination in Chinese ("Wu Fen"). 20mm, 0.84 grams. Krause Y#A13a.

Rare war-time coin from occupied China - because of the metal scarcity, it was imprinted on terracotta. Coins from the "year 12" (=1945) are very rare - they are listed at 85$ in Krause in VG condition and 150$ in VF.

Manchukuo ("State of Manchuria") was a puppet state in northeast China and Inner Mongolia, which was governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The area, collectively known as Manchuria, was designated by China's erstwhile Qing Dynasty as the "homeland" of the ruling family's ethnic group, the Manchus. In 1931, Japan seized the region following the Mukden Incident and installed a pro-Japanese government one year later with Puyi, the last Qing emperor, as the nominal regent and emperor. Manchukuo's government was abolished in 1945 after the defeat of Imperial Japan at the end of World War II.