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500 Yuan Bank of China
| Issuer | Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown and centres on an oval vignette of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, rendered in fine intaglio engraving with radiating line work in the background. The English legend BANK OF CHINA and the value 500 appear at the top, with FIVE HUNDRED in large lettering above the vignette, and 1941 / 500 YUAN at the foot of the design. The imprint of the American Bank Note Company appears at the very bottom. |
| Reverse lettering | BANK OF CHINA 500 FIVE HUNDRED 1941 500 YUAN AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY |
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| Comments |
The Bank of China's 1941 series was produced in the United States because Japanese military advances had made domestic printing impossible — by this point, most of China's coastal printing infrastructure was either occupied or destroyed. American Bank Note Company in New York handled several of these wartime contracts, working from engraved plates to standards that Chinese government printers could no longer meet under occupation conditions.
The 500 Yuan denomination reflects the accelerating inflation that plagued Nationalist-controlled China throughout the war years. Notes of this face value, unthinkable before the late 1930s, had become a practical necessity by 1941 as the fabi currency lost purchasing power against wartime commodity prices.
Wartime shipping meant delivery of printed stock was neither guaranteed nor timely.