A Stunning ‘Five Colour Dragon Note’ from Shensi Province

王大拿2018

by Dr. Kelvin Cheung, Director and Senior Numismatist - July 31, 2024
Original link: https://stacksbowers.com/a-stunning-five-colour-dragon-note-from-shensi-province/

Stack’s, Bowers and Ponterio is proud to present the legendary ‘Five Colour Dragon Note’ in our October Hong Kong auction.

The last few months of 1911 saw the Xinhai Revolution spread like wildfire across the Qing Empire, with many provinces in quick succession declaring themselves independent from the Imperial Government. Shensi (Shaanxi Province) was among the earliest to take arms against the Imperial army.

On October 20, 1911, Zhang Feng Hui was chosen to be commander of the uprising and Xian, the provincial capital, fell to the revolutionaries on October 22. The government of ‘Shensi-Kansu Troops to Regain Han Nationality’ was formed on October 27 with Zhang the overall Commander in Chief. To meet the financial needs of the time, the Qin Feng Bank was re-organized from the Qin Feng Currency Bureau, which in turn was descended from the Shensi Official Currency Bureau. The provisional government had no choice but to use old remainder notes from the Qing era to issue new currency.

The center of the obverse has the red overprint ‘Qin Feng Yin Hang’ (Qin Feng Bank). The right column of the central panel features the serial numbers; the corresponding left side displays the date which would either be ‘Xin Hai Year’ (1911) or ‘Ren Zi Year’ (1912). Both years are equally rare. The reverse contains a number of overprints over the original text to adjust for the new revolutionary flavor.

Denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 50 and 100 Taels were issued; very few specimens have survived into the present day owing to redemption and prolonged unrest. It is estimated that no more than 20 notes exist in total.

The Five Colour Dragon note belongs to both the Qing and Military banknote categories and is iconic and important enough to be the representative type for both. The note to be offered in our October Hong Kong auction is graded PMG 30 without any negative comments, placing it among the highest graded, if not actually the highest graded, notes across all denominations. Here is an exciting opportunity to acquire this historically important and aesthetically stunning note!

For further questions relating to our October Hong Kong Auction or consigning to this or another upcoming auction please call us on +852 2117 1191 or email infohk@stacksbowers.com.