Banknote Billet China 50 customs gold units Sun Yat-Sen, homme politique chinois 1930

Remarks:

Plis, jauni, tâché et écriture en chinois au verso

This 50 Customs Gold Units banknote was issued in 1930 by the city of Shanghai, China, and belongs to series VA. It fits within the particular economic context of Republican China, a period during which the monetary system sought to stabilise through the introduction of denominations based on the customs gold standard, with Customs Gold Units having been created to facilitate the settlement of customs duties.

The portrait of Sun Yat-Sen, a major political figure of modern China, founder of the Kuomintang and first president of the Republic of China, adorns this banknote. His representation on banknotes of this era reflects the symbolic importance attributed to this figure in the construction of Chinese republican national identity.

Customs Gold Units constituted a specific monetary unit, distinct from the traditional yuan, and were primarily used in the context of commercial transactions related to international trade transiting through Chinese ports, of which Shanghai was the main economic hub. This 50-unit banknote thus represented a significant denomination within this particular monetary system.

Series VA allows for the precise identification of the issue series of this banknote, an essential element for collectors and researchers in paper numismatics, as different series may exhibit notable graphic or printing variants. The year 1930 corresponds to a period of relative political and economic instability in China, which lends this type of monetary document an important historical dimension.