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500 Customs Gold Units
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 152 x 67 mm |
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| Obverse description | Printed in blue-grey tones over a geometric underprint in green and orange, the obverse centres on an oval guilloche frame enclosing a portrait of Sun Yat-sen. The issuer's name 中央銀行 runs across the top, with the denomination 關金伍佰圓 in large characters flanking the portrait on either side, and two red seal impressions appear at the lower portion of the vignette. The date 中華民國三十六年 is printed along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is executed in brown intaglio and carries a fine line-engraved vignette of the Central Bank of China building at right, its prominent clock tower rendered in precise geometric linework. To the left, a circular guilloche rosette bears the numeral 500, above which the legend THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA is set in bold letterpress across the top. The denomination FIVE HUNDRED CUSTOMS GOLD UNITS is repeated in a banner at the foot of the note. |
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| Comments |
The Customs Gold Unit was introduced in 1930 as an accounting currency tied to gold, initially intended to stabilize tariff revenues against the collapse of the silver-based yuan. By 1947, that original rationale was long gone — the CGB had degenerated into a vehicle for financing Nationalist war expenditures, and denominations climbed rapidly as inflation consumed each new series almost immediately after issue.
Waterlow & Sons produced this note in London, a logistical arrangement that became increasingly strained as the civil war progressed and shipping reliable currency stock to Shanghai grew complicated. Higher denominations in this series had extraordinarily brief purchasing power on arrival.