Nonesuch Notes - China
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Updated: March 03 2018
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A display of unused designs, specimens and little known notes by government banks and other major issuers. These notes are not displayed to scale. More examples will be added periodically.
This section focuses on unissued designs and alternate trial versions of the paper money of the government Bank of Communications.
To 1934
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The almost lost 1931 series. Most collectors and researchers will be familiar with the red 'Shanghai' 1 Yuan of 1931 (SCWPM 148) printed by De La Rue; however what is less well known is that the note was intended to be part of a more extensive series of issues for Shanghai and Tientsin; of a 1, 5 and 10 Yuan for each branch. It is not known why the other notes were cancelled. Right: a specimen of the unissued 5 Yuan for the Shanghai branch. |
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Below: (left) the issued 1 Yuan of 1935 (SCWPM 153) which was clearly adapted from the unissued green 1 Yuan of 1931 for Tientsin (below: right).
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Below: specimens for the unissued red 5 Yuan and purple 10 Yuan of 1931 for the Tientsin branch. As with the 1 Yuan above, both designs were adapted for the issued '1935' series.
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Right: a two part specimen of the unissued Shanghai 5 Yuan of 1931. As with the issued 1 Yuan, the back vignette depicts the Longhua Buddhist temple in Shanghai. |
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Right: a two part specimen of the unissued Shanghai 10 Yuan of 1931. As with the issued 1 Yuan, the back vignette depicts the Longhua Buddhist temple in Shanghai. |
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1935-1949
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Appealing hand composed trial designs for a 1940 series by an unknown artist of the Dah Tung Book Company (Hong Kong factory).
These were un-adopted (partly no doubt due to the worsening war conditions) though in 1941 a 10 Yuan (SCWPM 159) printed by Dah Tung at Hong Kong did appear, and of a design related to these examples but somewhat less elaborate. Numerous error notes survive and the issue was heavily counterfeited by the Japanese. The Hong Kong printing plant fell into Japanese control from December 25; meanwhile much of the printers operations were relocated to the war-time capital at Chungking (Chongqing). |
Above: a design for a 1 Yuan
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10 Yuan: above, right, and below; four different designs for the front of a 10 Yuan note, and 1 design for a back, showing that a better quality note or notes were being planned than the 1941 10 Yuan that finally appeared. |
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A test printing of an unused design for a 50 Yuan of 1941. The vignette of the ship is copied from that used on the back of the 10 Yuan issues of 1914. This however is not an American Banknote Company product. The printer is not known but may be the same as that of the following 1941 10 Yuan. |
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A test printing of a design for a 1941 10 Yuan. The printer has not been identified yet, though the Chinese name appears (too indistinctly) at the lower margin. The vignette of the Imperial Summer Palace at Peking (Beijing) copies that used on the backs of the 1935 issues by De La Rue. This trial piece is known in other colours. |
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A mostly hand drawn design for a 1 Yuan of 1941. The development product of an unidentified Chinese commercial printer, most likely the Dah Tung Book Company judging from stylistic similarities with the 1940 examples above. The depiction of part of a camel train is an unusual choice as such were already being increasingly supplanted by road and rail. Right: a LIFE magazine photo from the 1940s showing a camel train passing the walls of Peking (Beijing). |
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