100 Yuan Farmer's Bank of Chung-Chou, back proof, blue

The Farmers Bank of Chung-Chou was a provincial institution based in Henan, one of several regional banks that continued issuing notes deep into the hyperinflationary collapse of Nationalist China. By 1948, the Central Government's fapi had already become functionally worthless in many areas, and regional banks were printing high denominations as a matter of survival rather than policy. A 100 Yuan note at this date would have bought almost nothing within weeks of issue.

This particular example is a back proof — a single-side color trial printed on plain paper, existing outside normal circulation entirely. Blue proofs from Chung-Chou are seldom encountered; most known survivors came through printer's archives rather than banking channels.