2 Dollars

The Ningpo Commercial Bank (寧波商業銀行) was among the earliest Chinese-owned modern commercial banks, founded in 1908 by Ningbo merchant networks that had long dominated Shanghai's financial guilds. This note dates to just its second year of operation — a period when private Chinese banks were competing aggressively against the established foreign concession banks and the newly reorganized Qing imperial institutions.

Toppan's Shanghai facility handled a significant volume of Chinese private bank printing in this period, though the company is far better known for its Japanese government work. The A61B designation suggests a plate variant within the series, likely distinguishable by signature combination or serial prefix rather than any gross design change.