Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio is proud to announce that our October Hong Kong Auction catalogs are now online. The sale includes an exceptionally fine selection of notes from Mainland China, Hong Kong and regional areas. There are numerous highlights that could be featured here, but I settled on this group because of their attractive colors and meaningful designs, even though their history and purpose of issuance are a little dark.
The Central Reserve Bank of China was opened by Wang Shi Jing, the Finance Minister of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, in Peiping (Beijing) on 10th March 1938 with a capitalization of 50 million yuan. This Japanese Puppet Government and the local banks in Peiping and Tientsin (Bank of Hopei, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Chitung Bank, China and South Sea Bank, etc.) each contributed to the amount.
The bank had great ambitions to unite the different currencies circulating in Northern China at the time and pushed forward numerous legislations to limit or prohibit the circulation of banknotes issued by the National and Commercial Banks, as well as private issues from money exchangers and merchants. Problems arose with the unchecked issuance of the notes throughout the 1940s such that the total circulation figure of banknotes rose from 162 million yuan at the end of 1938 to 195.1 billion at the time of the Japanese surrender in August 1945. In November 1945, 1 Yuan Fabi (Legal Currency of the Republic of China) could be exchanged for 5 Puppet Bank Yuan. The finance situation in Northern China was ruined after this.
Given their origins, it is unsurprising that notes from Puppet Banks have always been unpopular with Chinese collectors. However, collecting interests have now changed slightly and more collectors appreciate their designs and scarcity. This superb group of six notes will be closely monitored by high end collectors and should be fiercely contested on the day of the live auction.
These six notes are from the first and second series issued by the Central Reserve Bank of China. The first series consists of the 1, 2 and 5 Jiao, 1, 5, 10, 100 Dollars and the second series consists of 1, 5, 10 and 100 Yuan. Both series are dated 1938.
The most noticeable differences between the two series are the sizes of the notes, the denominations used on the notes (Dollars vs. Yuan) and the side on which the historical figure is printed on (right vs. Left). The main design elements are briefly described below:
- $1/1 Yuan is green, showing Confucius and Flying Dragon.
- $5/5 Yuan is orange, showing Yue Fei and Flying Dragon.
- $10/10 Yuan is blue, showing Guan Yu and Flying Dragon.
- $100/100 Yuan is purple, showing Huangdi and Flying Dragon.
Our offering consists of $1, $5, $10, 1 Yuan, 5 Yuan and 100 Yuan, found in lots 30220 to 30225 of Session A. All notes bear the important ‘Exceptional Paper Quality’ (EPQ) notation, exceedingly rare for some notes. The offering of six notes of this quality in a single sale is an exceptional event unparalleled by other auction houses in recent years.
Please note that Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio will conduct another auction from December 13-15, 2024, and quality material is building up quickly. For further questions relating to our October Hong Kong Auction or to consign to the December sale (deadline October 10), please call us at +852 2117 1191 or email infohk@stacksbowers.com.
