10 Yuan

This note belongs to the First Series Renminbi, introduced while the civil war between the Communists and Nationalists was still technically ongoing. The People's Bank of China had only been established in December 1948 — a consolidation of three regional Communist banks — and the First Series was issued under genuinely chaotic conditions, with production distributed across multiple printing facilities of varying capability. That accounts for the considerable variation in paper quality and print sharpness found across the series.

First Series notes were entirely withdrawn from circulation by 1955 when the Second Series RMB was introduced at a conversion rate of 10,000 old yuan to 1 new yuan — reflecting the hyperinflationary damage the currency had absorbed in its short life.