50 Yuan Bank of Pei Hai

The Bank of Pei Hai (北海银行) was established in 1938 by the Communist-controlled Shandong-Liaoning Border Region government as a direct counter to Japanese military scrip and puppet bank currencies flooding occupied territories. By 1944, the bank had expanded its operational reach significantly, issuing notes across multiple Communist base areas in northern China — Shandong, Bohai, and parts of Hebei — each with local printing variations that now generate considerable cataloging complexity. The S3569C suffix itself signals a distinct regional or printing variant within a larger, loosely coordinated series.

Guerrilla economics produced inconsistent paper stocks and printing quality across the run, and attribution of specific printings to specific base area presses remains contested among specialists.