500 Yuan

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.