500 Yuan Bank of Pei Hai

The Bank of Pei Hai (北海银行) was the currency-issuing arm of the Shandong-Jiangsu liberated zone administered by the Chinese Communist Party, operating from 1938 through the broader monetary consolidation that accompanied the establishment of the People's Bank of China in late 1948. Notes from this institution circulated across guerrilla-held and transitional territories where supply chains were erratic and printing facilities often improvised — quality and consistency varied sharply across the series as a result.

By 1948, Pei Hai issues were being systematically withdrawn and converted into the new renminbi at fixed exchange rates, meaning high-denomination notes like this 500 Yuan saw very short active circulation windows before redemption. Survivors owe their existence largely to that abrupt transition rather than to careful preservation.