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1 Yuan Bank of China
| Issuer | Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Yuan (1912-1948) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Portrait vignette of Sun Yat-sen at center right, rendered in intaglio against a fine guilloche underprint in blue. Chinese characters reading 中國銀行 (Bank of China) are inscribed at top, with 壹圓 (One Yuan) in large characters at center below the portrait. The note bears serial number prefix and the legend 中華民國三十年印 (Printed in the 30th Year of the Republic of China) at the foot, with decorative borders and corner ornaments throughout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central oval vignette of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, set against radiating line work and surrounded by an elaborate guilloche border in blue. The legend BANK OF CHINA arches at the top and the large numeral word ONE fills the upper central field, with the date 1941 and ONE YUAN inscribed at the foot. The printer's imprint AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY appears in small lettering along the bottom margin. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of China's 1941 series was printed in New York by the American Bank Note Company under circumstances shaped directly by the Pacific War — by the time these notes were delivered, Japanese forces had severed or threatened most conventional supply routes into Free China. ABNC had maintained a long printing relationship with Chinese banking institutions going back decades, and continued fulfilling contracts even as the political situation deteriorated rapidly after Pearl Harbor.
Pick 91b is distinguished from the broader 91 series by its specific signature combination. Worth knowing: notes from this issue circulated primarily in Nationalist-controlled territories, where rampant inflation was already eroding confidence in paper currency well before the war's end.