Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5000 Customs Gold Units
| Issuer | Central Bank of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5000 Customs Gold Units (5000 關金圓) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | An intaglio portrait of Sun Yat-sen is set within an oval vignette at the upper centre, framed by intricate guilloche borders running along both vertical edges. Two red seal impressions appear below the portrait, flanking the denomination panel, which is printed in red and orange rosette guilloche underprint with Chinese characters reading 關金伍仟圓. The bank title 中央銀行 is printed in large characters at the top, with the date inscription and printer's imprint rendered in small characters along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA FIVE THOUSAND CUSTOMS GOLD UNITS 5000 |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Customs Gold Unit was a short-lived accounting currency introduced by the Nationalist government in 1948, nominally backed by customs revenue rather than general reserves — a distinction that fooled no one for long. By the time notes of this denomination entered circulation, hyperinflation had already consumed the Gold Yuan reform that preceded it, and the CGU series followed the same trajectory within months.
Printed in-house at the Central Bank's Shanghai works rather than contracted abroad, the series reflects the Nationalist government's increasingly desperate attempt to retain control of currency production as Communist forces advanced. Shanghai fell in May 1949.