Many interesting old Chinese Currency notes were auctioned by Stack’s Bowers galleries in Hong Kong on 25th March. A 5,000-yuan note from Xinjiang Province issued in 1951, graded PMG Very Fine 20 was sold for $51,600. The obverse side depicts a vignette containing a camel, two tents and a yurt. The reverse side is blue in colour and features Mongolian characters along with denomination on both sides. These notes were issued for the northern parts of China.

A red-coloured $100 Straits Settlements note issued on 1st February 1901, graded PMG Very Fine 25 was auctioned for $40,800. It belongs to the colony’s first series of notes and is very difficult to acquire. Four languages are featured on the obverse side namely, English, Chinese, Malay, and Jawi. The reverse side depicts a tiger at the centre.

A large, vertical format, mulberry-paper 2-Kuan note issued during the reign of Yuan Dynasty’s founder Kublai Khan, somewhere between 1271 and 1368, graded PCGS Currency very fine 25, was auctioned for $33,600. It features 20 strings of cash coins with a big red stamped seal and decorative borders. These notes are almost 100 years older than the more popular notes from Ming Dynasty notes. The offered note was restored and features internal tears.

10 Ming Dynasty 1-Kuan notes were also offered. One of them in AU condition was auctioned for $11,800.

Image Courtesy: Stack’s Bowers