1000 Yuan Central Bank of China

The Central Bank of China's 1945 1000 Yuan note appeared during the final, catastrophic phase of wartime inflation that had been grinding down the fabi since the late 1930s. By 1945, the money supply had expanded so violently under the pressures of financing the war against Japan that a 1000 Yuan denomination — unthinkable before the conflict — was already struggling to retain practical purchasing power by the time it reached circulation.

Pick 296 was printed by the American Bank Note Company. The series it belongs to marks the point where denomination escalation began outpacing any serious effort at monetary stabilization, a process that would continue unchecked through 1948–49.