10 Yuan Central Bank of China

The Central Bank of China's 1936 series was printed during a brief window of relative financial stability under the Nationalist government, just a year before the Second Sino-Japanese War shattered the currency system entirely. By 1937, inflation and military expenditure had begun their devastating work, and notes from this period were quickly overwhelmed by emergency issues of far inferior quality.

De La Rue's involvement guaranteed the watermarked paper and intaglio-quality impression that later wartime issues could not match. The contrast with post-1937 printings — many produced domestically under severe material constraints — makes the 1936 De La Rue notes immediately distinguishable by paper alone.