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500 000 Yuan
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait of Chiang Kai-shek in military uniform occupies the right portion of the note, set against a fine guilloche underprint in blue and red. The central field carries large Chinese denomination characters within an ornate medallion, with red serial numbers printed twice across the upper portion. Corner vignettes repeat the denomination value in Chinese characters, and two red seal impressions flank the central device. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 行銀央中 券圓金 圓萬拾伍 司公限有份股局書華中 (Translation: Central Bank of China Gold Yuan note Five Hundred Thousand Yuan Chung Hwa Book Co. Ltd.) |
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| Comments |
By mid-1949, the Nationalist government's gold yuan currency had already collapsed, and this 500,000 yuan note was part of the frantic final emissions as the Kuomintang lost ground on the mainland. Denominations had escalated with grotesque speed — just months earlier, such a figure would have been inconceivable on a single note. Chung Hwa Book Co. was one of several printers pressed into service as demand for high-denomination paper outpaced any reasonable production plan.
The series saw almost no meaningful circulation before the Communist victory rendered it worthless. Most examples encountered today were saved precisely because they were never spent.