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The Chinese 600-year-old paper banknote

The Chinese 600-year-old paper banknote

The Chinese 600-year-old paper banknote 

This paper banknote is housed at the British Museum, London. It is over 600 years old and was first issued under the Ming dynasty in China in 1375 and is made from mulberry bark.

The writing on the top of this note translates as “Great Ming Circulating Treasure Note”. Below is the denomination, or amount, written in two characters – “Yi guan” (“one string”) – and underneath is a string of 1,000 coins, arranged in ten groups of one hundred coins.

The note ends with a stern warning to would-be forgers: “To counterfeit is death. The informant will receive 250 Taels of silver and in addition the entire property of the criminal.” 

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