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5 Yuan
| Issuer | People's Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central-left vignette shows two women engaged in textile weaving, set against a background of a brick structure, rendered in brown intaglio. To the right, a large guilloche oval cartouche encloses the Chinese character 圓 (Yuan) above the numeral denomination. The bank title 行銀民人國中 appears across the top, with the date inscription 年八十三國民華中 along the lower margin, flanked by corner numerals 伍. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by an elaborate symmetric guilloche design with dense scrollwork and floral lathe-work borders enclosing a central panel bearing the bank title 行銀民人國中 at the top. The denomination 伍 appears in Chinese characters at centre, flanked on each side by the numeral 5 within ornate cartouches. The year 1949 is printed at the bottom centre within the guilloche framework. |
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| Comments |
This note belongs to the first series (第一套人民币) issued by the People's Bank of China, established just months earlier in December 1948 as the Communist Party consolidated military control over the mainland. The first series was printed under severe wartime conditions across multiple facilities — quality and paper stock vary considerably between print runs, and this 5 Yuan denomination was produced in several distinct variants distinguishable by minor typographic and color differences.
Inflation had already rendered Nationalist currency nearly worthless by 1949, which meant these early PRC notes entered circulation into an economy psychologically desperate for stable paper money. The entire first series was withdrawn by 1955 when the second series launched at a conversion rate of 10,000 old Yuan to 1 new Yuan.