Recently, the 2024 Chinese New Year commemorative banknotes couldn't be more popular! An ordinary dragon banknote with a face value of 20 yuan has been sold from 40 yuan at the beginning to 80 yuan now. I believe you have also seen the central bank's 2000 "Century Dragon Banknote" and Macau's 2012 "Zodiac Paper-cut Dragon Banknote", but have you ever seen the "Dragon Banknote" at the end of the Qing Dynasty?
In August 1902, Yuan Shikai, the governor of Zhili, petitioned the household department to register and established the government-run "Beiyang Tianjin Yinhao", commonly known as "Tianjin Guanyinhao". The site of Tianjin Guanyin is located at the Sanyi Temple on the south side of the east end of Tianjin North Road (near the northeast corner), and has issued two silver bills, silver dollar bills and money bills after its establishment. The silver dollar ticket was printed by the Beiyang Official Newspaper Bureau, and the silver dollar ticket was once used as the pattern on the front of the silver dollar ticket with its row house, the portrait of Li Hongzhang and the "Double Dragon Playing with Pearls".
1.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Beiyang Tianjin silver number one yuan.
Among them, the "Beiyang Tianjin Silver One Yuan" ticket (Figure 1) in the late Qing Dynasty, the upper part of the front of the ticket presents the pattern of "Double Dragons Playing with Pearls", the left side of the lower part is printed with the Beiyang Tianjin Silver Building, and the right side is the famous military strategist and diplomatic minister Li Hongzhang in the late Qing Dynasty, who died of illness in 1901.
2.Beiyang Tianjin silver number Li Hongzhang like Ku Pingzu silver three taels.
In 1910, the ticket of "Beiyang Tianjin Silver Trumpet Li Hongzhang Statue Library Pingzu Silver Three Taels" (Figure 2) was printed by the British printing house commissioned by the Beiyang Tianjin Silver Trumpet, with a portrait of Li Hongzhang in the middle, printed with a double dragon playing with pearls on the top, and a port scenery below, with gorgeous and gorgeous pattern design, extremely exquisite printing, and rare existence.
In February of the 29th year of Guangxu (1903), the case was filed by the Governor's Yuan, and the Yusu Official Bank and Money Bureau was established in Suzhou. The bureau was issued by Chen Kuilong when he was governor of Jiangsu. Chen Kuilong, a minister in the late Qing Dynasty, successively served as the governor of Henan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Zhili and Beiyang. In the 29th year of Guangxu, the local silver money in Jiangsu was short and the copper price was high, and Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Liangjiang, asked for the opening of official silver money accounts in Jiangsu and Ningxia to issue official silver money tickets.
3.Jiangsu Yusu official bank money bureau general banknote eagle yuan one yuan.
In the same year, Jiangsu Yusu Guanyin and Money Bureau issued two kinds of straight money bills of 500 wen and 1,000 yuan, and horizontal general banknotes of 1 yuan, 5 yuan and 10 yuan. The horizontal banknote is printed with the portrait of the head of the governor of Jiangsu, Chen Kui, there are two kinds of "dragon circle" and "eagle circle", and there are two kinds of "town" and "Shanghai". During the Xinhai Revolution, the bureau's cash was used up by the military and government organs, and it was closed after being cleaned up. This is "the second year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1906) Jiangsu Yusu Guanyin Money Bureau General Banknote Eagle Yuan One Yuan" (Figure 3). Its front is decorated with a "double dragon playing with pearls" pattern, and the right side of the main picture is printed with a portrait of Chen Kuilong, the governor of Jiangsu. The main picture on the back is "Double Dragon Playing with Pearls", decorated with flowers all around, and the "Seal of the General Administration" and "Seal of the Shanghai Bureau".
4.In the thirty-first year of Guangxu, Jiangnan Yuning official bank money bureau one yuan.
The Yuning Guanyin Money Bureau was established in September of the 29th year of Guangxu (1903), and issued three kinds of banknotes: money tickets, copper yuan tickets, and silver dollar tickets. Among them, the silver dollar stamps were printed in the 31st year of Guangxu (Figure 4), the first month of the 33rd year of Guangxu, and the 33rd year of Guangxu in June.
Hunan Guanqian Bureau was established in January of the 29th year of Guangxu (1903), with the address of Fanzheng Street, Changsha, and its predecessor was Funan Qianhao Guanbao. Because the banknotes issued by the bureau have a certain reserve that can be cashed, and the printing is exquisite and chic, and at that time, all kinds of banknotes of stores in Hunan were flooded with the market, and the situation of store closures occurred from time to time, so the banknotes issued by the official money bureau had good credit and smooth circulation, and became the main banknote issuing organ in Hunan Province, and had the name of "Taiwan bills" (bills issued by the Yamen of the Domain). A total of 227,600 taels of silver bills, 375,700 yuan of silver dollar bills, more than 880 copper dollar bills and a number of money tickets were issued.
5.Hunan Official Money Bureau's Japanese version of Guangxu Jiachen year.
Long before the establishment of the Hunan Official Money Bureau, the bureau ordered a batch of banknotes from Japan, including three types: one yuan for silver dollar bills, one tael for two silver bills, and one string of money bills. They are all vertical, printed from woodcut stencils, and the shape and pattern are basically the same. The obverse year was originally blank, and the year number of Jiachen was added later. The back of the banknote is printed with the notice of the governor of the 28th year of Guangxu. For example, the Japanese version of the "Guangxu Jiachen Year (1904) One Yuan" banknote (Fig. 5) of the Hunan Guanqian Bureau has a traditional pattern of "two dragons playing with pearls" printed on the top of the obverse, and "Hunan Guanqian Bureau" in regular script under the beads; The right side of the middle is printed with the number "Feng Zi No. 100202 Shijiu", and in the middle is printed "This ticket is exempt from the provincial Ding Cao and tariff salt tax, and the foreign silver is issued with the ticket" and other words; The lower left text is printed with an oval seal vermilion seal "Hunan Official Money Bureau Seal", and the bottom is a seawater ornamental map.
Anhui Yuwan official money bureau ticket also has "dragon money". At the beginning of the 32nd year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1906), Chengxun, the governor of Anhui Province, together with Zhou Fu, the governor of Liangjiang, opened the official money bureau in Anhui to maintain the financial fold. On February 24 of the same year, Qing ** replied: "With the approval of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Qin Feng is allowed to open the business." The official money bureau initially discussed the provincial ** investment shares, the official supervision and business office, and then it was actually an official office, and the Yali Bureau and the preparatory office each allocated 50,000 taels of silver, a total of 100,000 taels**, which was officially opened in October of the same year.
6.Anhui Yuwan Official Money Bureau issued copper yuan with a ticket.
After the establishment of the official money bureau, 300,000 strings of "money slips" (actually copper yuan bills) were issued that year, and the face of the ticket was printed with the words "one thousand documents of copper yuan full money issued by the ticket" (Figure 6), and the seal of the feudal department was stamped. On the back is printed a notice of the governor of Anhui: "Anhui Province set up an official money bureau in the provincial capital, printed money bills, and issued and exercised them with the seal of the feudal department, so as to facilitate the business and the people with capital turnover. Although the bureau is officially established, it is no different from a merchant's money shop, and no matter who arrives at the bureau with a ticket, it will be paid according to the amount of money on the ticket, and there will be no difficulty for a moment. If there are profiteers who obstruct and bandits who falsify and deceive, they will be punished immediately."
7.Anhui Yuwan official money bureau Guangxu thirty-three years of one yuan.
In the 33rd year of Guangxu, a silver dollar note of 400,000 yuan was issued in the denomination of one yuan (Figure 7) and Wu yuan, and a notice from the governor of Anhui was printed on the back of the ticket, stating that this silver dollar ticket "if exchanged for silver money, it will be priced at the same price as the dragon dollar, and it will not be slightly cheaper". The regulations for handling deposits are: "The funds of each agency can be deposited in a passbook, and the interest is paid according to four percent, and only the deposit is not owed", "the loan is higher than the deposit interest, and the accumulated funds are selected to be loaned and lent at the discretion of wealthy businessmen".
8.Daqing Bank exchange vouchers.
In the second year of Xuantong (1910), in order to unify the national currency system, the Qing Dynasty decided to print the "Daqing Bank Exchange Coupon" (Figure 8). On the left side of the front of the coupon is a bust statue of the regent Zaifeng, and the portrait is vivid. The upper right is a picture of the dragon taking off, and the lower part is the Great Wall, printed with the words "Coupon Instant Silver Coin Pick Up Yuan Nationwide" and the red number, and the English name of Daqing Bank is printed on the back and stamped with two seals: "Daqing Bank Supervision" and "Inspection and Correction Seal". This coupon is commonly known as the dragon banknote of the Qing Dynasty, in the third year of Xuantong (1911) design color sample ticket, but it was stillborn due to the fall of the dynasty before it was issued, and it was the first banknote printed by engraving steel gravure technology in the history of China's currency.