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500 Yuan
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Yuan |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Portrait of Chiang Kai-shek in intaglio at right, set within an ornate guilloche border with corner rosettes. The large denomination numeral characters occupy the centre field, with the bank title in Chinese characters across the top and Gold Yuan series inscription beneath. Two red seal stamps appear at lower left, with serial numbers printed in red at upper left and upper right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central vignette presents a steel truss bridge over a broad river busy with sampans and small vessels, rendered in fine line engraving. The bank title in English arches across the top, with the denomination in words and year at the bottom. Two facsimile signatures — General Manager at left and Governor at right — appear below the central vignette, flanked by guilloche panels bearing the numeral 500 in each corner. |
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| Comments |
By early 1949, the Nationalist government's gold yuan reform had already collapsed after less than a year, leaving the Central Bank of China issuing notes in denominations that would have been unthinkable two years prior. This 500 Yuan note was part of the silver yuan series introduced in desperate succession as the gold yuan hyperinflation wiped out public confidence entirely. Chung Hwa Book Co. was a Shanghai commercial printer pressed into currency work well beyond its peacetime remit.
The People's Liberation Army entered Shanghai in May 1949. Notes printed that year frequently never reached meaningful circulation before the issuing authority ceased to function on the mainland.