5 Yuan

The Bank of China's 1941 issues were produced under extreme duress. By mid-1941, Japanese forces controlled significant portions of eastern China, and The Commercial Press — Shanghai's dominant printing house since 1897 — was operating in occupied territory. The Press had already been devastated by Japanese bombing in 1932, and its continued operation under occupation meant these notes were produced under Japanese surveillance, adding a layer of political complexity to an otherwise routine printing contract.

Wartime paper shortages affected quality consistency across the series. Notes from this period frequently show variation in ink density and paper weight even within the same print run.