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22 July 2020
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Script, Scrawl and Chops
A study of various examples of unofficial additions to paper money, usually in the form of various written scripts, signatures or chops (seals). This page focuses on Bank of Communications issues.
The Bank of Communications - 交通銀行
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Right: General Bank of Communications, Tientsin branch, 1 dollar of 1909, printed by the Commercial Press. (SCWPM unlisted for this branch, S/M C126-1 unlisted) This example is overstamped for use as a specimen, but has very clearly been in circulation, having acquired various chops marks and annotations in Chinese. It has also been punch cancelled and poorly hand-cancelled with a large purple stamp, the left character of which is almost missing. Was this in circulation for a while and then retained as a specimen? Or was it a specimen stolen from a bank branch and placed in circulation? It may well be the former, as when this issue was cancelled and withdrawn, examples may have been retained for future reference. |
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Right: Bank of Communications 5 yuan of 1914 (issued mid 1920s), printed by The American Banknote Co. (SCWPM 117o, S/M C126-93b) A well used note with several annotations and at least four chop marks, the most impressive of which is the encircled four character chop on the front. Below (left): a single character inscribed in the right margin on the back of the note, 陸, 'land'. Below (right): a close up of the four character chop which is written in seal script. The upper right character is 大, the upper left character includes the radical 糸 - the rest remain a mystery for now. The lower right character is most likely too heavily obscured to ever be indentifiable.
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Right: Bank of Communications 10 yuan of 1914 (issued mid 1920s), printed by The American Banknote Co. (SCWPM 118o, S/M C126-115) Marked on both sides with at least 9 chops, annotations and a mystery additional serial number, also found on the following example. Both notes also carry two of the same chops in roughly identical positions on the back. Below: (left) a large violet character 安 'content', 'calm' - also found on the following example. (centre left) a two character violet chop written in seal script (centre right) an encircled red character 盛 which in the context most likely means 'flourishing' (right) a very faint 4 character seal across the top left of the front vignette, with a greek key style border. |
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Right: Bank of Communications 10 yuan of 1914 (issued mid 1920s), printed by The American Banknote Co. (SCWPM 118o, S/M C126-115) Heavily 'chop' marked and annotated by banks and merchants, with over 26 additions across both sides. Mysteriously there is a overprinted serial number on the back, also found on the above example in addition to others. Below: (left) a trio of chops. The upper chop in red contains 揮; 'to brandish', 'to wield'. The lower left chop contains 和; 'peace', 'harmony' - in a 8 sided frame. The adjacent circular chop contains the characters 天; 'day', 'sky', 'heaven' - and 華; 'magnificent'. 天華, the name of a now unknown business. Below: (centre) a single character chop, as yet unidentified. Below: (right) a boldly brushed three character annotation: 又十 "and ten". It is uncertain what the third character is supposed to be. |
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A Short Snorter
A Short-Snorter was a single or series of bank notes upon which friends and acquaintances wrote their names as a remembrance. This tradition apparently began in the 1920s, becoming relatively wide spread during the late 1930s with trans-ocean airline pilots, as well as the military, and continued into the World War II period. It was occasionally connected with a drinking game, which the person who had lost or forgotten their Short-Snorter, or who had the least number of names on it, bought the first round of drinks.
A more unusual example:
A more unusual example:
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Right: Bank of Communications 10 yuan of 1935 (actually introduced c1941), printed by Thomas De La Rue & Co. (SCWPM 155, S/M C126-243) This well worn example is interesting for having two sets of signatures each side, with several dates places and other details mentioned. The front carries a reference to the Friends Ambulance Unit, part of the Christian pacifist organisation the Quakers (The Religious Society of Friends). This was a voluntary organisation operating in over 25 countries, manned mainly by conscientious objectors. A China unit was established in 1941, the 'China Convoy', consisting initially of 40 volunteers including doctors and nurses giving medical aid. They performed a variety of medical treatments and also trained Chinese staff and restored medical facilities. 8 would die during this period (1941-1946), and many others sustained long term injury or ill health. See below for a description of the signatures and other texts. |
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Henan province (China), Harrison Forman with the 'Friends Ambulance Unit' 1943 (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries)
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A U.S. Army Air Forces plane flying over 'The Hump' in the Himalayan Mountains in 1945. Many planes crashed in this area during World War II due to the terrain.
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The FAU and other signatures (front) identified from the top (see below for a close up image):
1) is of Robert S Arthur of the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU).
2) is of Jackson R (RJ) Progin, (FAU).
3) signature appears to be a Thomas R Wiener, also of the FAU. Considering the context, I'm certain he is the same Thomas Wiener later at Columbia University and afterwards at the department of Slavic studies (which he established), Duke University. He was a contributor to 'Pivot of Asia' (pub. 1950) by Owen Lattimore and Associates. His name appears in an early 1950s report with the long-winded title of: United States Senate Committee on the Institute of Pacific Relations; Hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary (United States Senate, Eighty-second Congress - grilling people about membership of the Communist party). As part of this process, he was also being investigated by the State Department for loyalty!
4) signature might be of Ted Cadbury (of the FAU, and mentioned in the records of the Imperial War Museum, London)
5) signature is of W. Reginald Smith.
6) signature is of (Dr.) Robert 'Bob' McClure who worked with the FAU from c1941 to at least 1944 when he returned temporarily to Canada to promote the work of the FAU, raise funds, and recruit volunteers.
7) appears to be of Llewellyn 'Llew' Evans, also mentioned in various period accounts
The final two: 8) is yet to be identified and 9) is sadly illegible.
1) is of Robert S Arthur of the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU).
2) is of Jackson R (RJ) Progin, (FAU).
3) signature appears to be a Thomas R Wiener, also of the FAU. Considering the context, I'm certain he is the same Thomas Wiener later at Columbia University and afterwards at the department of Slavic studies (which he established), Duke University. He was a contributor to 'Pivot of Asia' (pub. 1950) by Owen Lattimore and Associates. His name appears in an early 1950s report with the long-winded title of: United States Senate Committee on the Institute of Pacific Relations; Hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary (United States Senate, Eighty-second Congress - grilling people about membership of the Communist party). As part of this process, he was also being investigated by the State Department for loyalty!
4) signature might be of Ted Cadbury (of the FAU, and mentioned in the records of the Imperial War Museum, London)
5) signature is of W. Reginald Smith.
6) signature is of (Dr.) Robert 'Bob' McClure who worked with the FAU from c1941 to at least 1944 when he returned temporarily to Canada to promote the work of the FAU, raise funds, and recruit volunteers.
7) appears to be of Llewellyn 'Llew' Evans, also mentioned in various period accounts
The final two: 8) is yet to be identified and 9) is sadly illegible.
The back has a reference to the Burma Roadsters; those who had travelled or flown above the Burma Road during WWII/The Second Sino-Japanese War, transporting supplies for the war effort. The Burma Road's terminals were Kunming, in Yunnan, and Lashio in Burma. Supplies would be deposited at Rangoon (Yangon) and then taken to Lashio for transport to China. From the Japanese occupation of Burma in 1942, all supplies had to be flown from India to China, over the 'Hump'; the eastern end of the Himalayas. The place and date Rangoon 21/2/42 shows that some of the signatories were in Burma during the Japanese invasion and must have left Rangoon only days before the city fell. A further notation refers to Kunming in Yunnan, 7/3/42, where they safely arrived.
The back signatures identified from the top:
Most have so far remained elusive. The 2) and 3) signatures share the surname Walker. The fourth signature is of Chick Curran (of the American Volunteer Group). The last of a George D. (Wernau?)
The back signatures identified from the top:
Most have so far remained elusive. The 2) and 3) signatures share the surname Walker. The fourth signature is of Chick Curran (of the American Volunteer Group). The last of a George D. (Wernau?)
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The website 'Hong Kong Escape' has images of two closely related Burma Roadster short-snorter notes, both using the Bank of Communications 1935 10 yuan: www.hongkongescape.org/Collingwood.htm
