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50 Coppers
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1928 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Coppers |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Bank name inscribed at top, denomination numeral to the left, and a pagoda vignette to the right, all set within a guilloche border. A red overprint is applied across the face of the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in red on a cream paper ground, the reverse is dominated by a central guilloche medallion bearing the numeral '50' above the inscription 'COPPERS', flanked symmetrically by two lobed cartouches each reading 'FIFTY COPPERS'. The bank title 'THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA' arches across the top in bold lettering, 'FIFTY COPPERS' appears in a panel at the foot of the design, and the printer's imprint 'CHUNG HWA BOOK CO., LTD.' is set below the lower border. Denomination numerals '50' within circular guilloche panels occupy each corner. |
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| Comments |
The Central Bank of China was established in 1928 under the Nationalist government, consolidating currency authority as the Republic sought to rationalize a monetary system fragmented by provincial banks, warlord issues, and foreign concession notes. This 50 Coppers note belongs to the earliest phase of that institution's output — before the sweeping currency reforms of 1933–1935 that eventually abolished the copper standard and unified China on a managed silver-backed note system.
Chung Hwa Book Co. was one of the major Shanghai commercial printers regularly contracted for government paper, alongside the better-known Chung Hwa Printing and Commercial Press facilities. Low-denomination copper notes of this period circulated hard in urban markets and survive poorly.