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500 Yuan Central Bank of China
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1936 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 152 x 78 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 行銀央中 圓百伍 印年五十二國民華中 (Translation: Central Bank of China Five Hundred Yuan Printed in the 25th year of the Republic of China) |
| Reverse description | Central vignette of a classical Chinese palatial hall — identified as the Hall of Supreme Harmony within the Forbidden City, Beijing — rendered in fine intaglio in blue tones, framed by trees and a broad staircase terrace. A lobed blank panel appears at left, with guilloche border ornamentation throughout. Two facsimile signatures appear below the vignette, attributed to the General Manager and Governor respectively, with the year 1936 printed between them. |
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| Comments |
The Central Bank of China turned to Waterlow & Sons for this 1936 issue at a moment when Nationalist currency policy was still finding its footing following the 1935 fabi reforms, which had abolished the silver standard and centralized note-issuing authority under four government banks. H.H. Kung — rendered here as H.A. Kung — served simultaneously as Finance Minister and Central Bank Governor, a concentration of control that drew persistent criticism from within the Nationalist government itself.
Waterlow's reputation suffered a catastrophic blow just two years earlier with the Portuguese escudo forgery scandal of 1932, yet the firm retained major sovereign contracts well into the late 1930s.