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500 Yuan Bank of Pei Hai
| Issuer | Bank of Pei Hai |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Yuan (1946-1949) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Violet letterpress print with an intricate guilloche border of scalloped lozenges framing the entire note. A large central medallion carries the numeral 500 in bold relief within an ornate diamond-shaped guilloche panel, flanked by horizontal ruled bands. The numeral 500 is repeated in each corner, and the year 1948 appears in a lower border panel. |
| Reverse lettering | 500 1948 |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Pei Hai (北海银行) was the currency authority of the Shandong-Jiangsu-Hebei communist base areas, established in 1938 and operating well into the civil war period. By 1948, the People's Liberation Army was consolidating control across northern China, and Pei Hai notes circulated in territory that was shifting rapidly — sometimes within weeks — between Nationalist and Communist administration. High-denomination issues like this 500 Yuan reflect the inflationary pressure that plagued all Chinese currency in 1948, Nationalist and Communist alike.
Pei Hai notes were absorbed into the new Renminbi system when the People's Bank of China unified currency in late 1948 and 1949, at which point most were exchanged and destroyed. Survivors in any condition are underrepresented in Western collections.