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10 000 Yuan Central Bank of China
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse lettering | 行銀央中 圓萬壹 印年六十三國民華中 司公票鈔安保商美 (Translation: Central Bank of China Ten Thousand Yuan Printed in the 36th year of the Republic of China American Security Banknote Company) |
| Reverse description | Dark grey-black intaglio print on a plain background. The centre is occupied by a large elaborate guilloche medallion bearing the numeral 10000 and the word YUAN in a lathe-work rosette, flanked by symmetrical foliate scrollwork panels. The denomination 10000 appears in all four corners, with the issuer title across the top, two manuscript facsimile signatures over the titles GENERAL MANAGER and GOVERNOR at the bottom centre, and the imprint SECURITY BANKNOTE COMPANY at the foot. |
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| Comments |
By 1947, the Central Bank of China was printing in denominations that would have been unimaginable five years earlier. Hyperinflation driven by wartime military expenditure and post-war reconstruction costs was accelerating so rapidly that the 10,000 Yuan note — a sum that once represented serious wealth — was already losing purchasing power faster than it could circulate. The Nationalist government's monetary situation was deteriorating beyond any technical remedy.
The Security Banknote Company of Philadelphia handled a significant volume of Chinese Nationalist currency during this period, one of several American and foreign firms drawn into the Republic of China's printing contracts when domestic capacity proved insufficient. Pick 319 falls within a series that was ultimately rendered worthless by the Communist victory in 1949 and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan.