Nonesuch Notes - China
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Updated: April 23 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 Central Bank of China.
1928-1934
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Not the most thrilling example perhaps, but these specimen 100 Dollars of 1928 carry early signature pairs that do not seem to be found on issued examples. It may simply be the case that relatively few were circulated and far fewer have survived. This and other early signature combinations (pre 1935) are scarce throughout the 1928 series. Both signature combinations are not listed in the SCWPM. 
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A design by the American Banknote Company for a 1 Dollar of 1930, to complement the 5 Dollars (SCWPM 200). There may well be a $10 that has yet to surface. |
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A colour trial of the 1930 5 Dollars by the American Banknote Company. The issued note (SCWPM 200) is in green |
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1935-1947
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Right, and below:
A series of colour trial specimens for the 1, 5 and 10 Yuan of the 1936 Confucian series of the Central Bank of China, printed by Waterlow & Sons. |
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A study of the issued notes (and those of other printers issued concurrently on the Confucian theme) can be found here
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Appealing hand composed trial designs for a 1942 series by De La Rue.
Unfortunately, any images of the back of these designs have yet to appear (if they ever will); 1 Yuan: farmer and plough in paddy field. 2 Yuan: railway labourers. 5 Yuan: office workers in a street scene. |
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10 Yuan: man standing in front of a building, with rickshaws in the mid ground. 50 Yuan: a military bugler standing before the Great Wall (a design used on the back of the issued 10 Yuan of 1942, SCWPM 245) 100 Yuan: a plane flying above an airfield (similar to the back of the issued 5 Yuan of 1942, SCWPM 244) |
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Trial designs by the London based printer De La Rue for c1942 and later notes. These mostly relate to the other c1942 series also featured on this page and the introduction page to this section. The front and back designs for a 10 Yuan note at the top left are especially interesting. This features a never used portrait of the Finance Minister and Governor of the Central Bank of China, HH Kung. The difficult to see feature beside him appears to be the grave of the philosopher Confucius at the Confucian Estate and Temple, Qufu, Shantung (Shandong). The back depicts one of many pailou (gates) at this site. |
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Right: Unissued 1943 50 yuan printed by the Ta Yeh (Dah Yip) Company. Right:
Unissued 100 Yuan of 1943, depicting a gateway at the Confucius Estate at Qufu. |
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A colour trial for the front of the 500 Yuan of 1944, printed by the Central Trust. The issued note is printed in dark-brown/black with multicolour underprint (SCWPM 266). This depicts Sun Yatsen at right, and the pailou (gate) and city wall vignette of the Fort of Fu To Kuan (Fuxing-Tor) at Chongqing (Chungking), Sichuan Province, at left. |
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A Security Banknote Company proposed design for a 10 Yuan of 1944. A composite of a photo and both engraved and hand drawn elements. The scene depicted is from within the former imperial palace of the Forbidden City at Peking (Beijing) |
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Another Security Banknote Company proposed design for a 20 Yuan of 1944. A composite of a photo and both engraved and hand drawn elements. The building depicted is the Sun Yatsen Memorial Hall in Canton (Guangzhou) built 1929-31, to mark the site of his proclamation as head of the government in 1923. The Sun Yatsen Monument in Yuexiu Park can be seen beyond. Right: similar to the above; the back of a proposed design for a 10 Yuan of 1945, by the British American Banknote Company. Right: a 50 Yuan proposal for the same Security Banknote Co series. The vignette depicts a bridge with pavilion in the Summer Palace Park at Peking (Beijing). Below right: The Security Banknote Company proposal for a 100 Yuan of this series, depicting the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum at Nanking (Nanjing). Below left: An American Banknote Company proposal for the back of a 200 Yuan of 1945 using the same scene (though from a different photo/engraving) |
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Another Security Banknote Company proposal design for a 100 Yuan of c1944, but from a different series to the above. This depicts an unidentified hydropower dam. |
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A proof for a proposed 20 Yuan of 1944 by the Security Banknote Company. Below: a similar proof version of the same denomination. 
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The nearly lost British American Banknote Company series of 1944
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Right and below: The front of two unadopted trial designs for a 10 Yuan, 1944. 
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Right: The front of an unadopted trial design for a 20 Yuan, 1944. |
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The front of an unadopted trial design of 100 Yuan, for 1944. This is a composite of hand drawn and engraved elements by a designer at the British American Banknote Company, Ottawa. This firm only ever produced one issued note for China: the 500 Yuan of 1944 (SCWPM 267) which is very similar to this, demonstrating that the intended plan was for a range of denominations of the same general design. Right: this photographic proof of 1941 shows that the above design was adapted from an earlier unsuccessful proposed design for a 100 Yuan. Unfortunately this is the only image of this lost 1941 series apparently available. |
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The front of another unadopted trial design for a 100 Yuan of 1944. This is a composite of hand drawn and engraved elements by a designer at the British American Banknote Company, Ottawa. No provision has been made for serial numbers, at least not on the front. |
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The front of an unadopted trial design for the unusual denomination of 300 Yuan, for 1944. This denomination was never used - at least by any of the nationalist government banks. This is a composite of hand drawn and engraved elements by a designer at the British American Banknote Company, Ottawa. This firm only ever produced one issued note for China: the 500 Yuan of 1944 (SCWPM 267) |
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Hand executed designs by an unidentified Chinese printer; possibly the Hong Kong Press
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A hand executed proposal for the back of a 50 Yuan note of c1945. The printer associated with this is not yet identified. One of a series which includes the 1000 Yuan immediately below. |
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A hand executed proposal for the back of a 1000 Yuan note of 1945-1947. The printer associated with this is not yet identified. |
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A further hand executed proposal for a 500 Yuan of c1945-1947, most likely by the same printing firm as above. The vignette depicts a statue of Sun Yat-sen, probably in Shanghai. |
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The Security Banknote Company
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Two of several related but unadopted designs by the Security Banknote Company (SBNC), for 1944. Apart from the front border and the portrait, these designs differ considerably from the issued 10, 20 and 100 Yuan by the SBNC of '1941'. 
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A finished design proposal for the scarcely used denomination of 200 Yuan (of 1944) which seems to have made it as far as a trial printing before being abandoned. This is again by the Security Banknote Company. |
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An unused design by the Central Printing Factory for a 1945 100 Yuan of the 9 North-Eastern Provinces (formerly Manchuria/Manchukuo). Only one 100 issue would appear in this denomination for this series. The issued 100 Yuan of 1945 is less attractive, and employs only two colours; green on a pale tan underprint. Production costs were presumably a factor in the non-issue of this note. |
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A hand rendered design by De La Rue for a proposed 100 Yuan of 1944, with a portrait of Chiang Kai Shek typical of (1945) 1948-49 issues. |
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Right: The front of an unissued 1944 100 Yuan by an unidentified Chinese printer. Right: 1945 5 Yuan unissued trial design by the Central Printing Factory. It is likely that this was abandoned for the same reason - hyperinflation - that led to the delay to issue the 1945 series printed by the American Banknote Company, suspended until currency reforms in 1948. |
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Right: The front of a 1947 unnissued 10,000 Yuan by the British American Banknote Company. |
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1948-1949
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Right: A specimen for a never issued 5000 Gold Yuan of 1949, printed by the Security Banknote Company, dated March 30th 1949. This was rendered obsolete by the introduction of the New Silver Yuan in July 1949, in a final failed effort to tackle inflation. |
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Too late.... A proposed design for a 5000 Gold Yuan of 1949. One of a series created by the American Banknote Company in the summer of 1949, these were rendered obsolete by the introduction of the New Silver Yuan in July 1949, quickly followed by the fall of the nationalist government under Chiang Kaishek by October, and no doubt abandoned before. The front re-uses the unusual double portrait layout of President Lin Sen at left and Chiang Kaishek at right, from the 100 Yuan of 1945 (1948) but with less pleasing results. The back carries a scene of the Zhenfeng Pagoda (振风塔) of Anqing, Anhui province. |
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A 100,000 Gold Yuan design of 1949 by the American Banknote Company. The previously unused portrait of Dr Sun Yatsen is found on the front; the buildings on the back vignette have yet to be identified. |
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A very number laden 500,000 Gold Yuan design by the American Banknote Company, for 1949. The village river scene on the back is of Hanchou (village) in Szechuan Province. This is based on a photo found in "Picturesque China - Architecture and Landscape - A Journey through Twelve Provinces" by the German architect Ernst Boerschmann. The photographs were taken 1906 - 1909 and the book published c1923. |
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A design for a 1 million Gold Yuan of 1949. It's not certain whether a more finished version exists with underprinting. One example of the back is known with an annotated date of July 1 1949. The front carries a portrait of Dr Sun Yatsen, while the back uses the same vignette of the Zhenfeng Pagoda as seen on the 5000 Yuan above. |
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Right: presumably a trial printing of an unnissued and uncataloged 1 Million Gold Yuan of 1949 by the Central China Printing Factory. As with others of this series, the back depicts the then National Assembly Building of the Republic of China at Nanking (Nanking). The front depicts Chiang Kai-shek, whose portrait only appeared on circulating banknotes from 1948 onwards (some dated from 1945 onwards). |
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