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5 Yuan
| Issuer | Provincial Bank of Honan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Red-toned note with a central oval vignette containing a full-length portrait of Guan Yu (God of War) in imperial regalia, framed by an ornate rectangular guilloche border. Two serial number groups appear at the top, with large Chinese characters 伍圓 (Five Yuan) flanking the central vignette on both sides. Vertical panel inscriptions in Chinese characters appear along the left and right margins, with further legends and date inscriptions arranged along the lower register. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | PROVINCIAL BANK OF HONAN JULY 5TH 1918 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY |
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| Comments |
The Provincial Bank of Honan was one of several Chinese provincial institutions that turned to the American Bank Note Company during the late Qing and early Republican periods, when domestic printing infrastructure could not reliably produce notes resistant to counterfeiting. ABNC's New York facility supplied intaglio-printed sheets to dozens of Chinese issuers simultaneously, which creates an odd genealogy — competing provincial banks, some barely solvent, all sharing the same Manhattan pressroom.
1918 places this note squarely in the warlord era, when Honan province changed military and political hands repeatedly. Provincial bank notes from this period often circulated at steep discounts beyond their home territory, if they circulated at all.