5 Yuan Central Bank of China

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.