Catalog
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| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 134 × 65 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 中央銀行 伍圓 伍 中華民國三十年 (Translation: Central Bank of China / Five Yuan / Year 30 of the Republic of China) |
| Reverse description | The reverse is executed entirely in green, with dense guilloche lathe-work forming an intricate geometric underprint across the full field. THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA is inscribed in a banner at top, FIVE YUAN in a central panel surrounded by ornate scrollwork, and the numeral 5 is repeated in each corner; two signature panels bearing the printed titles GENERAL MANAGER and ASST. GEN. MANAGER appear in the lower half, with the year 1941 centred at the bottom flanked by further guilloche ornament. |
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| Comments |
By 1941, the Central Bank of China was operating under extraordinary pressure — the Nationalist government had relocated to Chongqing following Japanese advances, and the printing infrastructure moved with it. Chung Hwa Book Co., one of the few domestic printers capable of sustained banknote production under wartime conditions, took on an increasing share of the currency workload as access to foreign security printers became effectively impossible.
Wartime inflation was already accelerating badly. Notes of this denomination entered circulation quickly and wore out quickly, which makes clean survivors harder to find than the large original print runs might suggest.