5 Fen / Cents

This note belongs to the extreme inflationary endgame of Nationalist China. By early 1949, the gold yuan — introduced in August 1948 as the replacement for the collapsed fabi — was itself collapsing, and denominations that had seemed adequate in late 1948 were effectively worthless within weeks. A 5-fen note in that environment was functionally useless from the moment it was printed.

The Central Engraving and Printing Works maintained operations in Chongqing after the Nationalist government's retreat from Nanjing, continuing to produce notes even as the Communist advance made their circulation increasingly theoretical. The Chongqing facilities were abandoned later that year when PLA forces took the city in November 1949.