25 Yuan Bank of Pei Hai

The Bank of Pei Hai (北海银行) was the currency-issuing arm of the Shandong-Jiangsu base area under Communist Party administration, established in 1938. By 1945, it was one of several regional "border area" banks printing their own currency in direct competition with both Japanese military scrip and Nationalist legal tender — a deliberate economic strategy to undermine occupying and rival currencies simultaneously.

Wartime printing conditions in guerrilla-held territory were crude at best. Paper quality, ink consistency, and registration varied considerably across print runs, and forgeries circulated alongside genuine notes even within liberated zones.