5 Chiao / 50 Cents Beei Hai Bank; blue

Pei Hai Bank was established in 1938 by the Shandong-Jiangsu Border Region government — one of several Communist-controlled base area banks operating behind Japanese lines. Its notes circulated as regional currency within guerrilla-held territory, deliberately kept separate from both the Nationalist fabi and Japanese-sponsored puppet bank issues. The practical function of these early notes was as much political as monetary: a tangible assertion of administrative authority in contested terrain.

The 1938 issues are the earliest from this issuer and survive in small numbers. Base area notes of this period were printed under difficult conditions and often on whatever paper stock was available, which affects consistency across surviving examples.