2 Yuan Bank of Shansi, Chahar, and Hopei

The Bank of Shansi, Chahar and Hopei was established in 1937 under Japanese occupation authorities to serve the newly created Mengjiang puppet administration covering the three northern Chinese provinces in its name. It was one of several regional collaborationist banks set up to displace existing Chinese currency, extract local economic resources, and fund Japanese military operations — the notes were legal tender within the occupied zone but worthless outside it.

The 1939 series was printed during a period of aggressive currency flooding, when Japanese-backed banks deliberately oversupplied occupied regions to destabilize Nationalist and Communist monetary systems simultaneously. Surviving examples frequently show handling wear consistent with genuine provincial circulation rather than hoarding.