10 000 Cash Da-Qing Baochao

The Da-Qing Baochao ("Great Qing Treasure Notes") were introduced in 1853 as the Qing government, hemorrhaging silver to finance the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, simply ran out of hard currency to pay its armies. The 10,000-cash denomination is among the highest issued in the series — face value that was theoretically enormous but in practice worth far less, as rampant overprinting drove rapid depreciation and public confidence collapsed almost immediately after introduction.

The official seal impressed on these notes was the primary authentication mechanism. It was also easily forged, and counterfeiting was widespread within years of issue.