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1 Dollar
| Issuer | General Bank of Communications |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
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| Reference(s) | P#A17 |
| Obverse description | Green and yellow intaglio print on white paper with ornate guilloche border. Central vignette shows a steam ship dockside with a bustling Shanghai waterfront and multi-storey buildings to the right. Issuer title 'GENERAL BANK OF COMMUNICATIONS' at top, 'SHANGHAI' at centre, serial numbers flanking, and denomination 'ONE DOLLAR LOCAL CURRENCY' below the vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | GENERAL BANK OF COMMUNICATIONS SHANGHAI ONE DOLLAR LOCAL CURRENCY Promises to pay the Bearer on Demand at its Office here Value Received March 1st 1909 |
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| Comments |
The General Bank of Communications (交通銀行) was established by imperial edict in 1907 to consolidate control over railways, telegraph, and postal services under a single financial institution — a structural ambition that proved difficult to sustain after 1911. Notes issued in 1909 predate the Republic by two years, placing this dollar firmly in the Qing dynasty's last, increasingly unstable phase of monetary reform.
The Chung Ming Printing Association was one of a small number of Shanghai-based printers producing banknotes for Chinese institutions before foreign security printers dominated the market. Their output from this period is generally considered technically inferior to contemporaneous De La Rue or American Bank Note Company work, which may explain the eventual shift in printing contracts.