Catalog
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| Issuer | Ta Ch'ing Government Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1906 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Brown and orange note dated 1st September 1906, issued at Hankow. Central vignette of crossed flags flanked by a decorative guilloche border with repeated numeral '5' pattern. Denomination 'FIVE DOLLARS' in bold letterpress at lower center, with promise-to-pay text at left and manuscript Chinese characters overprinted across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Supported heraldic arms vignette at upper center, printed in a single color on plain paper stock with guilloche border elements typical of early twentieth-century Chinese bank issues. |
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| Comments |
The Ta Ch'ing Government Bank was established by imperial edict in 1905 as the Qing dynasty's first attempt at a centralized state bank, replacing the older Hu Pu Bank. This note dates to the bank's first full year of operation — an institution that would survive barely six years before the 1911 Revolution dissolved the dynasty that created it.
The CMPA printer is an unusual choice. Better known as a French shipping and postal company operating across Southeast and East Asia, CMPA's sideline in security printing for Asian clients remains poorly documented, and its work for the Ta Ch'ing series is among the more obscure assignments in Chinese colonial-era printing history.