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5 Yuan Bank of Communications
| Issuer | Bank of Communications |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Currency | Yuan (1912-1948) |
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| Obverse description | Central oval intaglio vignette of a steam locomotive approaching head-on at a railway station, framed by ornate scrollwork and guilloche borders in dark brown on a multicolour underprint of blue and pink rosettes. The Chinese characters 伍圓 appear in large guilloche medallions to the left and right, with the bank title 交通銀行 across the top and the denomination and promise-to-pay text in Chinese characters along the lower portion. Two red chop seals of the Ministry of Finance appear at the lower left and right, flanking the branch designation 上海. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central oval intaglio vignette of a grand European-style corner building identified as the Chinese Government Post Office, rendered in fine engraving with street-level figures and horse-drawn vehicles in the foreground. Large guilloche medallions bearing the numeral 5 in arabesque surrounds flank the vignette on either side, with the English bank title and promise-to-pay legend at the top. Two manuscript signatures appear below the central vignette above the branch name SHANGHAI and the date OCTOBER 1st, 1914. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Communications was established in 1908 under the Qing dynasty primarily to manage railway and shipping finances, not as a general commercial bank — a distinction that shaped which government ministries had authority over its note issues during the early Republic years. By 1914, when this series was printed, the bank had become one of only two institutions (alongside the Bank of China) authorized to issue national currency under the new Republican government.
ABNC produced the plates in New York, and the quality shows — the intaglio work on this series is among the finer engraving seen on Chinese Republican-era notes. The bank suspended specie payments in 1916 under pressure from Yuan Shikai's government, which severely damaged public confidence and sent many of these notes into hoarding or rapid depreciation.