5 Dollars

The General Bank of Communications (交通銀行) was established in 1908 to consolidate control over railways, postal services, and navigation — a deliberate instrument of late Qing fiscal reform rather than a conventional commercial bank. Notes issued in 1909 were among the earliest in the series, predating the Republic by just two years, which means this note circulated — if it circulated at all — against a backdrop of dynasty collapse, provincial monetary chaos, and competing local bank currencies.

The Chung Ming Printing Agency was one of the few domestic Chinese printers producing banknotes at this period; most contemporary issuers still relied on foreign security printers in London or the United States. That domestic production choice reflects deliberate Qing policy, though print quality was noticeably inconsistent across the run.