1000 Yuan Central Bank of China

The Central Bank of China leaned heavily on American Bank Note Company throughout the 1940s, partly because domestic printing capacity was perpetually disrupted by the war with Japan and the concurrent pressure of Communist forces. By 1945, the Nationalist government's finances were deteriorating rapidly — inflation that had been manageable in the early war years was becoming structural, and denominations were climbing accordingly. A 1,000 Yuan note, which would have seemed extraordinary in 1940, was already losing ground to purchasing power by the time it reached circulation.

ABNC's New York facility produced this series to a consistently high technical standard, which created a grim irony: the printing quality outlasted the currency's value by years.