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500 Yuan
| Issuer | People's Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | First Rénmínbì (1948-1949) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a multi-tiered Chinese city gate tower set within an ornate guilloche frame, with the denomination 伍佰圓 printed in large characters to the left and right of the vignette. The bank name 中國人民銀行 appears across the top, and the date inscription 中華民國三十八年 is printed along the lower border. A red serial number and prefix block appear in the upper portion of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is composed entirely of intricate guilloche scrollwork in brown on a light ground, with the numeral 500 printed in large digits at the centre and repeated in each corner. Two oval guilloche cartouches flanking the centre each carry the Chinese characters 伍佰圓, and the bank name 中國人民銀行 is inscribed across the top within the guilloche border. The year 1949 appears along the lower central margin. |
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| Comments |
The People's Bank of China issued this note in 1949, the year the PRC was formally proclaimed — meaning this series was printed and circulated during one of the most compressed monetary transformations of the twentieth century. The Nationalist government's hyperinflationary Gold Yuan had already collapsed, and the incoming administration needed high-denomination paper in circulation fast. Speed mattered more than sophistication.
Pick 844 belongs to the First Series Renminbi, which was printed across multiple facilities under chaotic wartime and transition conditions. Different notes in this series show variation in paper stock and print registration that reflects those practical constraints rather than any design revision.