First series of the renminbi
The first series of Renminbi banknotes was introduced during the Chinese Civil War by the newly founded People's Bank of China on December 1, 1948, nearly one year before the founding of the People's Republic of China itself. It was issued to unify and replace the various currencies of the communist-held territories as well as the currency of the Nationalist government.[1]
This series also called "Old Currency", which 10000 yuan is equal to 1 yuan of the 2nd series and later(called "New Currency").
Due to the turbulent political situation at the time, the first series is rather chaotic, with many versions issued for each denomination. The banknotes show a mixture of agricultural and industrial scenes, modes of transportation, and famous sites.
The notes were issued in 12 denominations: ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥20, ¥50, ¥100, ¥200, ¥500, ¥1,000, ¥5,000, ¥10,000 and ¥50,000, with a total of 62 designs. They were officially withdrawn on various dates between April 1, 1955 to May 10, 1955.
Some of these notes have words "Republic of China" (Chinese: 中華民國) on them to show the issuance year in the Republic of China Era. Though the PRC adopted the Common Era to replace the ROC Era in 1949 and have been avoiding using "Republic of China" in any possible circumstance, these notes were issued and used until 1955, when a revaluation of Reminbi took place.
List
¥1
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Workers and farmers |
Flower symbol |
January 10, 1949 |
  |
Factory |
Flower ball |
August 1949 |
¥5
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Shephard |
Flower symbol |
February 23, 1949 |
  |
Sailboat |
Flower symbol |
January 10, 1949 |
  |
Cow and horse buggy |
Flower ball |
July 1949 |
  |
Spinning |
Flower ball |
August 1949 |
¥10
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Irrigation field and mine |
Flower symbol |
December 1, 1948 |
  |
Sawn timber and plow |
Flower symbol |
February 23, 1949 |
  |
Railway Station |
Flower symbol |
May 25, 1949 |
  |
Workers and farmers |
Temple |
August 1949 |
¥20
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Donkey and train |
Big flower ball |
December 1, 1948 |
  |
Coal mines car |
Flower symbol |
February 23, 1949 |
  |
Longevity Hill of Summer Palace |
Flower symbol |
July 1949 |
  |
Working area |
Flower ball |
August 1949 |
  |
Train and sailboat |
Flower ball |
August 1949 |
  |
Field |
Flower ball |
September 1949 |
  |
Longevity Hill of Summer Palace |
Flower ball |
October 1949 |
¥50
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Donkey and tub |
Flower symbol |
December 1, 1948 |
  |
Train and bridge |
Car |
February 10, 1949 |
  |
June 10, 1949 |
  |
Workers and farmers |
Flower symbol |
August 1949 |
  |
Railway |
Flower symbol |
March 20, 1949 |
  |
Roller |
Carriage |
October 3, 1949 |
  |
Railway |
Flower symbol |
April 1949 |
¥100
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Arable land and factory |
Flower symbol |
January 10, 1949 |
  |
Railway station and road |
Flower symbol |
February 5, 1949 |
  |
Longevity Hill of Summer Palace |
Train |
February 5, 1949 |
  |
Factory |
Flower symbol |
March 20, 1949 |
  |
Beihai Bridge |
Flower symbol |
March 25, 1949 |
  |
July 1949 |
 |
Ship bridge |
Large flower stand |
August 1949 |
  |
Donkey team |
Flower symbol |
November 5, 1949 |
  |
Longevity Hill of Summer Palace |
Train |
March 20, 1949 |
  |
Sailboat |
Flower symbol |
January 20, 1950 |
¥200
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Summer Place |
Flower symbol |
March 20, 1949 |
  |
Pai Yundian (排云殿) |
Flower symbol |
May 8, 1949 |
  |
Great Wall of China |
Flower symbol |
August 1949 |
  |
Steel factory |
Flower symbol |
September 1949 |
  |
Cut rice |
Flower symbol |
October 20, 1949 |
¥500
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Village |
Flower symbol |
September 10, 1949 |
  |
Zhengyang Gate |
Flower symbol |
September 10, 1949 |
  |
Crane |
Flower symbol |
October 3, 1949 |
  |
Harvester |
Flower symbol |
October 20, 1949 |
  |
Farming |
Flower symbol |
April 1, 1951 |
  |
Zhandeng City (瞻德城) |
Flower symbol with Uyghur characters |
October 1, 1951 |
¥1,000
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Arable land |
Temple of Heaven |
September 11, 1949 |
  |
Harvest |
Flower symbol |
October 3, 1949 |
  |
Three tractors |
Cut wheat |
November 15, 1949 |
  |
Carts and plowing |
Ship |
December 23, 1949 |
  |
Qiantang River Bridge |
Flower ball |
January 20, 1950 |
  |
Wrangler |
Flower symbol with Uyghur characters |
October 1, 1951 |
¥5,000
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
 (Obverse) |
Cultivator |
Flower symbol |
January 20, 1950 |
 (Reverse) |
Factory |
Flower ball |
January 20, 1950 |
  |
Camels |
Flower symbol with Mongolian characters |
May 17, 1951 |
 (Obverse) |
Shepherd |
Flower symbol with Uyghur characters |
October 1, 1951 |
  |
Railway Bridge |
Flower symbol |
September 25, 1953 |
¥10,000
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Ship |
Flower symbol |
January 20, 1950 |
  |
Arable land |
Grazing cattle and sheeps |
January 20, 1950 |
  |
Wrangler |
Flower symbol with Mongolian characters |
May 17, 1951 |
  |
Camels |
Flower symbol with Uyghur characters |
October 1, 1951 |
¥50,000
| Image |
Obverse |
Reverse |
Date of issue |
  |
Xinhua Gate |
Tractor |
December 1953 |
  |
Harvester |
Produce |
December 1953 |
References