500 Yuan Central Bank of China

The Central Bank of China's 500 Yuan notes of this period were issued into an economy already losing its battle with hyperinflation. Between 1946 and 1949, China's money supply expanded at a catastrophic rate as the Nationalist government financed its civil war against the Communists almost entirely through the printing press. A denomination that felt substantial at issue was functionally worthless within months.

Pick 380 was printed by the Central Printing Factory. Notes from this series are common in high grades — they circulated briefly before being overtaken by larger denominations, then were withdrawn and often preserved in bulk rather than worn out.