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50 000 Customs Gold Units
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 000 Customs Gold Units (50 000 關金圓) (50 000) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette of the Central Bank of China building in Shanghai, rendered in an architectural engraving style within a ruled frame. The bank name THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA appears at the top, with the denomination 50000 and the legend FIFTY THOUSAND CUSTOMS GOLD UNITS in a central panel below the building. Two facsimile signatures of bank officials appear at the lower portion, with denomination numerals 50000 repeated in all four corners. |
| Reverse lettering | THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA FIFTY THOUSAND CUSTOMS GOLD UNITS 50000 |
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| Comments |
The Customs Gold Unit was an accounting currency introduced in 1930 to stabilize tariff revenues against silver fluctuation, but by 1948 it had been weaponized as an emergency circulating medium during the final hyperinflationary collapse of Nationalist finances. Denominations escalated with brutal speed — the 50,000 CGU note arrived as the Gold Yuan reform was already being prepared to replace the entire CGU system, meaning many of these notes had an effective lifespan measured in weeks.
Printed in-house by the Central Bank's own works rather than contracted abroad, a decision driven by wartime disruption to foreign printing relationships rather than any capacity advantage.