5 Yuan Bank of Pei Hai, orange & yellow

Pei Hai Bank was established in 1938 under Communist Party authority in the Shandong-Liaoning border region, making it one of the more durable of the CCP-administered regional banks operating behind Japanese lines. By 1944, the bank had consolidated note production across several liberated areas, though printing conditions remained improvised — paper quality and ink consistency vary noticeably across surviving examples of this series, a direct consequence of wartime supply constraints rather than negligence.

The S-prefix in the Pick reference reflects its classification as a Chinese regional issue, distinct from central government currency. These notes circulated in direct competition with Japanese military scrip and puppet-regime currency, and their acceptance was enforced as much by political pressure as by economic confidence.