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10 Yuan Central Bank of China
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 148 x 75 mm |
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| Obverse description | Vignette of a pai-lou (traditional Chinese ceremonial gate) set among trees occupies the right portion of the note, printed in red-brown on an intricate guilloche underprint. The large Chinese characters 拾圓 (Ten Yuan) appear in the left field within an ornate frame, with the bank title 中央銀行 across the top. Serial numbers are printed in red at upper left and upper right, and the date inscription appears along the lower border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in orange-red and centres on a large numeral 10 within an elaborate guilloche medallion, flanked by the denomination numerals 10 at left and right within rosette cartouches. The English bank title runs across the top in a decorative panel, with TEN YUAN in a banner below the central vignette. Two manuscript signatures and the date 1942 appear in the lower portion above a fine guilloche border. |
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| Comments |
The Central Bank of China began printing its own notes domestically after the fall of coastal cities made reliance on foreign security printers — De La Rue, American Bank Note Company — logistically untenable. By 1942, the Nationalist government was operating from Chongqing, and wartime inflation was accelerating fast enough that denominations which seemed substantial in the late 1930s were becoming pocket change.
P#247 belongs to a period when the Chongqing presses were under serious strain. Quality control across the series is inconsistent, and ink strike and registration vary noticeably between surviving examples — a direct consequence of wartime production pressures rather than neglect.