Military Payment Certificate, or MPC, stood in for American money and was paid to American military personnel serving in foreign countries. It could be used at military canteens and was converted to local currencies when going off base. MPC was changed every few years to discourage black market trading by foreign nationals and to prevent MPC becoming the primary currency in a given country/region. Republic of China "Shanghai Customs Gold Units" were originally used to pay customs payments and were in use from 1930 to 1948. They also circulated, along with other Chinese currency, as money.
