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1 Fen Fukien Provincial Bank
| Issuer | Fukien Provincial Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938 |
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| Currency | Yuan (1896-1949) |
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| Obverse description | Red letterpress note with a central vignette of a lakeside pavilion and pagoda with a small boat in the foreground, set against a fine guilloche underprint. The bank title 福建省銀行 appears in Chinese characters across the top, with the denomination 壹分 rendered in a blue scalloped cartouche at right. Corner ornaments frame the design, and the date inscription 中華民國二十七年印 appears along the bottom panel. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in red, the reverse centres on a large lobed guilloche medallion bearing the denomination characters 壹分, surrounded by intricate lathe-work patterning that fills the field. The bank title 福建省銀行 is inscribed in a rectangular panel at the top, flanked by corner vignettes showing the numeral 1. Two manuscript signature seals appear to the left and right of the central medallion. |
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| Comments |
Fukien Provincial Bank operated under Nationalist Chinese authority but found itself increasingly isolated as Japanese forces tightened their grip on coastal Fujian through the late 1930s. This note was issued during that period of acute instability, when provincial authorities were scrambling to maintain a functioning currency system amid supply disruptions and eroding public confidence in paper instruments of any denomination.
At this size and face value, the note was almost certainly intended for everyday market transactions — the kind that larger denominations couldn't serve. Small-denomination provincial notes from this period suffered heavy attrition through simple use.