5 Dollars

The General Bank of Communications (交通銀行, Jiaotong Yinhang) was founded in 1908 under the late Qing imperial government to finance railway construction and postal services — a moment when Peking was still trying to rationalize a chaotic patchwork of regional and foreign-backed financial institutions. This note dates to the bank's first full year of operation, before it had established its own printing capacity in China.

Carmichael, MacKay & Peacock of Aberdeen handled relatively few Chinese banking commissions; the firm is far less documented in this field than contemporaries such as Waterlow or De La Rue, which makes precise attribution of production details difficult. The Aberdeen connection is genuine but the firm's records from this period are sparse.