The Kiang Hwai Bank of China was a puppet institution established under the Japanese-sponsored Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing, and this overprinted note is a direct product of wartime monetary improvisation. Rather than printing new denominations from scratch, the occupying administration authorized the revaluation of existing 1 Yuan notes by stamping them with a 5 Yuan overprint — a stopgap that kept currency supply moving without the delays of fresh print runs.
The S-prefix in the Pick reference places this firmly in the specialized Chinese regional and political issues catalog. Genuine examples of S3118A are scarce; the overprint itself is the authenticating detail to scrutinize.
The Kiang Hwai Bank of China was a puppet institution established under the Japanese-sponsored Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing, and this overprinted note is a direct product of wartime monetary improvisation. Rather than printing new denominations from scratch, the occupying administration authorized the revaluation of existing 1 Yuan notes by stamping them with a 5 Yuan overprint — a stopgap that kept currency supply moving without the delays of fresh print runs.
The S-prefix in the Pick reference places this firmly in the specialized Chinese regional and political issues catalog. Genuine examples of S3118A are scarce; the overprint itself is the authenticating detail to scrutinize.