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500 Yuan Central Bank of China
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 行銀央中 圓佰伍 年四十三國民華中 (Translation: Central Bank of China Five Hundred Yuan Printed in the 34th year of the Republic of China) |
| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a central guilloche medallion bearing the large numeral 500 in red letterpress, surrounded by intricate lathe-work underprint patterns filling the entire field. Ornate guilloche borders frame the note on all sides, with the value 500 repeated in the four corners. Two signature lines appear below the central medallion, captioned ASST. GEN. MANAGER and GENERAL MANAGER respectively. |
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| Comments |
The Central Bank of China's Printing Works had been operating under severe wartime strain by 1945 — first displaced from Shanghai, then forced through a series of interior relocations as Japanese forces advanced. Production quality across the late-war series reflects those disruptions, with inconsistent ink saturation and registration shifts common across the 500 Yuan notes of this period.
Hyperinflation had already made 500 Yuan a trivial sum by the time these notes circulated. The Nationalist government's money supply expanded so aggressively between 1944 and 1945 that notes of this denomination were essentially obsolete within months of issue.