200 Yuan Farmer's Bank of Chung-Chou, front proof

The Farmer's Bank of Chung-Chou (中州農民銀行) was a Communist-backed regional bank operating in the Central Plains liberated zones during the civil war period. By 1948, the Nationalist government's currency was in freefall, and competing regional Communist banks were issuing their own notes as parallel monetary systems in contested and liberated territories — this 200 Yuan issue belongs to that frantic, inflationary environment where denominations escalated almost monthly.

The "s" suffix in the Pick reference denotes a specimen or proof, meaning this example was almost certainly never released into circulation. Front proofs from regional Communist-era banks survive in small numbers, most having passed through collector channels after 1949.