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500 Yuan Bank of China
| Issuer | Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Yuan |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The Temple of Heaven, Beijing, is rendered in an oval intaglio vignette at right, surrounded by fine lathe-work guilloche border. A large numeral 500 occupies the central cartouche, flanked by corner denomination panels. The bank name and denomination appear in English along the top and bottom margins respectively, with the printer's imprint at the lower right. |
| Reverse lettering | BANK OF CHINA FIVE HUNDRED YUAN 1942 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY |
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| Comments |
The Bank of China was reorganized under Nationalist government control in 1935, but by 1942 the wartime situation had fractured Chinese banking to such a degree that multiple government-affiliated institutions were issuing high-denomination paper simultaneously, each feeding an inflation spiral that would eventually consume the entire Republican currency system. This note was printed in New York — a practical necessity, since American Bank Note Company's intaglio capabilities far exceeded anything accessible in wartime China.
The 500 Yuan face value, substantial at the time of printing, lost purchasing power so rapidly in circulation that denominations of this size became routine within a year or two of issue.