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| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#366 |
| Obverse description | Portrait of Sun Yat-Sen in an oval vignette at centre, set against a green guilloche underprint with intricate lathe-work border. Two red seal impressions appear below the portrait at left and right, with the denomination 關金貳萬伍仟圓 printed in large Chinese characters within a central guilloche medallion in green and orange. Serial number and issuer name 中央銀行 appear at top, with the denomination repeated in vertical panels along both lateral margins. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND CUSTOMS GOLD UNITS 25000 |
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| Comments |
The Customs Gold Unit was introduced in February 1948 as a nominally gold-backed accounting currency for tariff collection, an attempt to insulate customs revenue from the hyperinflation that was already destroying the Gold Yuan and its predecessors. It didn't work. By the time denominations this large were necessary, the entire system had collapsed in function if not yet in name.
The Central Engraving and Printing Plant in Shanghai was under severe operational pressure in 1948 — the facility would fall to Communist forces the following year, and much of its equipment and staff relocated to Taiwan.