Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
300 000 Dollars - Hell Bank Note
| Issuer | Hell Bank (冥通銀行) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 117 x 64 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central vignette of the Jade Emperor in imperial robes, set within an oval frame with ornate floral borders, printed in red on a green underprint. Denomination cartouches appear at left and right, with the bank title in Chinese characters across the top and the issuer's mandate along the lower banner. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 冥通銀行 參拾萬 地府通用 (Translation: Hell Bank 300000 For use in Hell) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Hell Bank Notes are votive paper money burned during Chinese funeral rites and festivals such as Qingming and Hungry Ghost — the idea being that the smoke carries wealth to deceased ancestors in the afterlife. The "Hell Bank" name is a Western mistranslation of a concept closer to "Bank of Hades" or "Underworld Bank"; the Chinese term carries no negative connotation. These items have no monetary value in any legal or numismatic sense, but they circulate freely among collectors of exonumia and novelty paper.
The $300,000 face value is purely theatrical — denominations in this genre routinely run into the billions.