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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 | Portrait of Sun Yat-sen in an oval vignette at left, set against an elaborate guilloche rosette in the centre. The denomination 伍佰圓 is printed in large Chinese characters within the central guilloche, with corner numerals and vertical Chinese denomination panels at each side. The issuer name 中國銀行 appears at top in Chinese characters, and the date of issue in the Republican calendar is inscribed along the lower centre. |
|---|---|
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| 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.