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5 Jiao / 50 Cents Bank of China
| Issuer | Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#45 |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Elaborate central cartouche with a large ornate scrollwork design enclosing the denomination numeral 50 CENTS in bold letterpress, set against a dense guilloche background in olive-green. BANK OF CHINA is inscribed in an arc at the top, with bilingual marginal text 每十角兌換國幣券一元 in Chinese on both side panels. The date OCTOBER 1ST 1917, place name HARBIN, and two manuscript signatures with their titles (ACCT. and MANAGER) appear along the lower portion of the note. The imprint reads: BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING PEKING CHINA. |
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| Signature(s) | L.H. Chen (Accountant) and K. Feng (Manager) |
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| Comments |
The Bank of China was reorganized from the old Ta-Ching Government Bank in 1912, but by 1917 it was already operating in a political environment that made note-issuing deeply precarious. Yuan Shikai had died in June 1916, leaving the central government in Beijing functionally bankrupt and the bank scrambling to maintain public confidence. Many Bank of China branches had suspended specie redemption the previous year — a move the bank's own Shanghai management famously defied by continuing to honor silver payments.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Peking handled this issue domestically, which distinguishes it from the foreign-printed Bank of China series contracted to American Banknote and others. Domestic production was cheaper but the intaglio quality is generally considered inferior.