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1 000 000 Hell Bank Note Harold Wilson
| Issuer | Hell Bank (Joss Paper) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1960-1969 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 萬佰壹 萬佰壹 E64865 行銀通冥 E64865 壹 壹 佰 佰 萬 萬 威爾遜 壹佰萬 Harold Wilson 壹佰萬 |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 1000000 1000000 E 64865 HELL BANK NOTE 1000000 票鈔用通府地 1000000 1000000 |
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| Comments |
Hell Bank notes are a form of joss paper — votive currency burned in Chinese funerary rites to provide the deceased with wealth in the afterlife. The tradition predates paper money itself, with roots in Tang Dynasty offerings of actual silk and goods. The "Hell Bank" branding, adopted for export-market novelty versions in the mid-twentieth century, is a mistranslation artifact: the Chinese term refers to the underworld in a neutral cosmological sense, not the Christian infernal realm.
Harold Wilson's appearance here places this squarely in the British novelty trade. He became Prime Minister in 1964, which anchors the likely production window to the latter half of the decade.