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50 Yuan Bank of Communications
| Issuer | Bank of Communications |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 169 × 84 mm |
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| Reverse description | Brown intaglio print on a plain ground. The central vignette presents a large steam-powered ocean liner under full smoke amid sailing vessels on choppy seas, engraved in fine detail. Two ornate guilloche rosettes flank the vignette, each enclosing the numeral 50, with two manuscript facsimile signatures below the vignette and the denomination cartouche reading FIFTY YUAN at centre bottom, flanked by the date 1941. |
| Reverse lettering | BANK OF COMMUNICATIONS FIFTY YUAN 1941 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Communications was technically a government-chartered institution, but by 1941 it was operating under conditions of extreme monetary stress — Japanese forces controlled much of eastern China, and the Nationalist government had relocated to Chongqing. Notes of this period were printed abroad precisely because domestic printing capacity was either occupied or unreliable, and American Banknote Corporation's New York facilities had long served Chinese issuers with high-quality intaglio work.
Wartime inflation hit Bank of Communications issues hard. By 1945, the purchasing power of notes like this had collapsed so severely that denominations once considered substantial were effectively worthless in daily transactions.