Banknotes during the Republic of China:
The Revolution of 1911 led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen overthrew the reactionary rule of the Qing Dynasty, which was mediocre, decadent, powerless and humiliating, ended China's feudal monarchy that had lasted for more than two thousand years, and created the The bourgeois revolution and the Republic of China wrote a glorious page in the modern history of China. Before the Revolution of 1911, "Rate Coupons" had been issued abroad. To meet the needs of military expenditures, "Military Invoices" and other banknotes were also issued. After the victory of the Revolution of 1911, in the early years of the Republic of China, the original "Bank of Qing Dynasty" was changed to "Bank of China", Bank of Communications was designated as the national bank, and exchange notes were issued successively. Bank of China and Bank of Communications stopped fulfilling their promises in 1916, and in 1924 In 2008, a "Central Bank" was established in Guangzhou as an agent for the treasury to perform the functions of the national bank and issue currency. also. Ordinary commercial banks approved by the state also issued banknotes, and local financial institutions in various provinces also issued local banknotes. During the Republic of China, the Central Bank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Agricultural Bank of China, and local provinces, prefectures, cities, and even counties also successively issued various types of banknotes and minted a variety of gold coins, silver coins, copper coins, nickel coins, etc. currency.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the mediocre and decadent Qing government lost power and humiliated the country, pushing the Chinese nation into a dangerous situation where the country would not be able to survive. The Revolution of 1911 led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen overthrew the reactionary rule of the Qing Dynasty, ended China's feudal monarchy that had lasted for more than two thousand years, established the bourgeois Communist Party, and wrote a glorious page in modern Chinese history. Dr. Sun Yat-sen issued salary coupons abroad in order to raise funds for food, military and revolutionary activities, and to accumulate revolutionary forces. In order to eliminate the remaining forces of the Qing government and meet the urgent needs of military and political affairs, the Nanjing Provisional Government issued "military coupons" issued by the Ministry of War and the Republic of China. Nanjing military banknotes; the provinces responded to the Wuchang Uprising, declared independence, established military governments, and issued banknotes with the symbols of the Revolution of 1911. These banknotes played a great role in overthrowing the Qing government and establishing the bourgeois Communist Party. This is The product and witness of a great revolutionary movement has always been cherished by people as an important revolutionary cultural relic.
National Bank Notes
After the Revolution of 1911, "Bank of the Qing Dynasty" was changed to "Bank of China". "Bank of Communications" still uses its old name. In the early years of the Republic of China, the "China" and "Communication" banks were designated as national banks and continued to issue exchange notes. Later, Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, which triggered a war against Yuan. Then warlords in various places started fighting, and the financial situation deteriorated extremely. The Second Bank stopped encashment in 1916, which caused a sharp rise in the prices of grain and various commodities, causing the working people to suffer great losses. In 1924, in order to regulate finance and activate the economy, Dr. Sun Yat-sen established the "Central Bank" in Guangzhou to act as an agent for the national treasury, issue currency, and perform the functions of a national bank.
Commercial banks and special bank notes
In addition to the national bank issuing notes, many ordinary commercial banks have also obtained the privilege of issuing banknotes with government approval. Those who obtained the issuance rights in the former Qing Dynasty include China Commercial Bank, Zhejiang Industrial Bank, Siming Bank, Xincheng Bank, etc. Banknotes issued after the establishment of the Republic of China government include the Industrial Bank of China, Zhongnan Bank, Dazhong Bank, China Silk Tea Bank, etc. In addition, there are also special banks authorized by the government to issue banknotes, such as the Border Bank and the Border Bank. , Quanye Bank, etc. These banks have played a certain role in resisting foreign currency and developing China's national economy.
Military votes
After the Revolution of 1911, the reactionary rule of the Qing government ended. However, due to the weakness of the bourgeoisie, the fruits of the revolution were stolen by Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, triggering a nationwide war against Yuan that started in Yunnan. Each province established the "National Protection Army" and "Jingguo Army" one after another and declared independence. After the war against Yuan, the Beiyang warlords formed a military and political force. With the support of their respective imperialist countries, they fought against each other, plunging the country into successive years of civil war. In order to raise funds for war, military regimes in various places generally issued military banknotes. Such banknotes are issued on battlefields and are temporary in nature. Of course, this burden has been passed on to the working people without exception.
National Government Banknotes
Legal Currency
At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, our country was affected by the fluctuations in international gold and silver prices. Silver continued to flow out, and the silver standard currency system was difficult to maintain. Domestic currency issuance was not unified and was chaotic. The Kuomintang government implemented the "legal currency reform" in 1935, stipulating that banknotes issued by the Central Government, the China Banking Corporation, and the Three Banks of Communications (later added to the Agricultural Bank of China) were "legal currency". It also prohibited the circulation of silver dollars on the market and forced the nationalization of silver. . During the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, the Kuomintang government adopted an inflationary policy and the legal currency depreciated sharply. On the eve of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, the total amount of legal tender issued was only over 1.4 billion yuan. By the eve of Japan's surrender, the total amount of legal tender issued had reached 500 billion yuan. By April 1947, the issuance amount had increased to more than 16 trillion yuan. In 1948, the issuance of legal tender reached more than 660 trillion yuan, which was 470,000 times that before the Anti-Japanese War. Prices rose 34.92 million times, and legal tender completely collapsed.
Guanjin Voucher
Guanjin is the abbreviation of "Customs Gold Unit Exchange Voucher", which was the calculation unit for China's customs tax collection during the Kuomintang rule. Originally, the customs collected taxes in silver taels. In 1929, the world silver price plummeted, which affected customs revenue.
The government decided to levy gold coins in January 1930. The standard calculation was based on the unit value of 0.601866 grams of pure gold, which was called the "customs gold unit", equivalent to 0.40 US dollars. In May 1931, the Central Bank issued customs exchange coupons for the purpose of paying tariffs. In April 1942, one yuan of customs fee was converted into twenty yuan of legal tender, and it circulated in parallel with legal tender. After the issuance of gold dollar coupons in August 1948, the issuance was stopped.
Gold dollar certificates
In view of the vicious expansion of legal currency and the national economy facing collapse, the Kuomintang government carried out currency reform again on August 19, 1948. The gold dollar was stipulated as the standard, and "gold dollar certificates" (each gold dollar containing 0.22217 grams of pure gold) began to be issued to redeem the sharply depreciated legal tender at a ratio of one to three million. However, gold dollar certificates expanded at a faster rate. In less than ten months, the total issuance amount reached 130.3046 billion yuan, an increase of more than 65,000 times from the original issuance amount of 2 billion yuan. Prices were higher than those in the early stage of currency reform. An increase of 1.7 million times. On the eve of liberation, one silver dollar in Shanghai could be exchanged for 1.6 billion gold dollar coupons. All localities refused to use it and replaced it with silver dollars.
Silver dollar coupons, circulating coupons in nine northeastern provinces
On the eve of the liberation of mainland China, gold dollar coupons were no more than waste paper, and most people had automatically reused silver dollars. The Kuomintang government restored the silver standard currency system and issued silver dollar certificates in Chongqing and Guangzhou. It is stipulated that 500 million gold dollar certificates can be exchanged to the central bank for one dollar silver dollar certificate.
On the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang government decided to adopt a zone issuance system in the currency system. For areas with special economic environments, regional circulation coupons are issued and limited to local circulation. On December 1945, the "Nine Northeastern Provinces Circulation Notes" were first issued in the Northeast region, with a currency value ten times the legal currency. Distribution ceased on August 20, 1948.
The collection and research of banknotes from the Republic of China is a hot topic in today's collection world. It not only brings people an enjoyable collection experience, but also allows people to understand history. A banknote measuring 2.5 cm x 5.1 cm and only the size of a thumb records a tragic event in the history of my country's Anti-Japanese War. In 1941, due to the fall of Hangzhou, the Zhejiang Local Bank moved south to the mountainous area of ??southern Zhejiang. Due to the severe blockade by the Japanese army, there was an extreme shortage of banknote printing materials. In order to survive the difficulty, the banknote printing factory had to save paper for printing banknotes, so the banknote printing plant came into being. This is the smallest banknote in the history of our country - the horizontal one-cent banknote of the local bank of Zhejiang Province. Nowadays, this kind of paper money is worth ten thousand times, making it rare to see. Another type of Republic of China banknote with a face value of 6 billion yuan has written the failure of the financial collapse at the end of the Republic of China. In 1948, the Kuomintang's legal currency policy was on the verge of bankruptcy. The purchasing power of 100 yuan of legal currency was only worth 0.00002 yuan in 1937. However, due to the needs of the civil war, the Kuomintang government still issued a large number of banknotes indiscriminately, leading to the most serious crisis in modern Chinese history. inflation. In May 1949, the Xinjiang Provincial Bank issued a banknote with a face value of 6 billion yuan. This banknote was equivalent to 10,000 gold yuan notes. According to the prices in Shanghai at the time, this 6 billion yuan banknote could only buy 77 pieces. Rice, this can really be called an anecdote in China’s financial history.
Now this banknote, which was only a flash in the pan in history, is worth a lot of money, and its market price in new condition has reached 5,000 yuan