Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Taels Hubu Guanpiao, second issue
| Issuer | Hubu (Board of Revenue), Empire of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1853-1864 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Taels |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse bears extensive handwritten Chinese manuscript notations in ink, consistent with successive endorsements or transfer records accumulated during the note's circulation. Several large red official seals of varying sizes are impressed across the surface, partially overlapping the manuscript text. The aged, toned paper exhibits staining and wear commensurate with heavy use, with no printed design elements visible beyond the endorsement and seal impressions. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Official seal |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Hubu Guanpiao were government cash notes issued by the Qing Board of Revenue beginning in 1853, a direct response to the fiscal catastrophe of the Taiping Rebellion — the state needed to fund military campaigns and could no longer do so through copper coin alone. The 50-tael denomination was the largest in the series, and at face value represented a sum far beyond the means of ordinary people. These notes circulated primarily among merchants, salt traders, and officials.
Acceptance was never voluntary in any meaningful sense. Shops in Beijing were compelled by imperial decree to accept them at face value, but the notes depreciated rapidly. The series was officially discontinued by 1864, when the government quietly abandoned the experiment rather than formally repudiating it.