1954 Taiwan 1 Yuan Banknote Grades Choice CU. The Bank of Taiwan first issued the New Taiwan dollar on 15 June 1949 to replace the Old Taiwan dollar, which was in use from 1946 to 1949 following Japan's handover of Taiwan to China, at a ratio of 40,000 to one. The first goal of the New Taiwan dollar was to end the hyperinflation that had plagued Nationalist China due to the Chinese Civil War.