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5 Fen
| Issuer | Federal Reserve Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938-1939 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Yuan |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge at the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), Beijing, occupying the centre of the note. Bold denomination numerals appear on both flanking sides of the bridge vignette, each surmounted by a block serial number and underscored by seal-script authority signatures. Bank title and date inscriptions are arranged in Chinese characters in the surrounding border areas. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in red on a cream paper ground and carries an ornate symmetrical guilloche framework enclosing two circular rosette medallions, each bearing the Arabic numeral '5' at centre. The Chinese seal-script characters '伍分' are positioned centrally between the two medallions. Scrollwork and foliate corner ornaments complete the decorative border surround. |
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| Comments |
The Federal Reserve Bank of China was established in March 1938 under Japanese occupation authorities in Beijing, making it an instrument of wartime monetary control rather than a conventional central bank. These small-denomination notes were intended to displace Chinese Nationalist currency in occupied northern China — the fen issues in particular targeted everyday market transactions, where psychological acceptance of the new currency mattered most.
The Printing Bureau of the Administrative Commission was a Japanese-controlled facility operating in occupied territory. Print quality on this series is notably inconsistent across the run.