Some Russian Bank Note Issues Associated with the Chinese Eastern Railway
Collectors occasionally encounter a set of Russian language bank notes dating from the Bolshevik Revolution, which have been overprinted with a Chinese hand-stamp. Are these notes Russian, or are they Chinese? Who issued them and where? ... and for what purpose? This article reveals the research undergone to reveal the answers.
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The Money of Communist China - Part I
Prior to 1949 the People's Republic of China did not exist as such. In its place, commencing in 1927, was a Communist party which controlled scattered areas throughout China known as "soviets". These bases underwent many changes; first at the hands of victorious Nationalist armies, and after 1937, the Japanese invaders. These early Communists were self sufficient in every way. This included the manufacture and circulation of their own currency - including both coins and paper money. Driven out of their southern soviets by Chang Kai-shek's Nationalist army in 1934, the Communists fled north on their Long March to escape annihilation and to save their cause. There they stayed to fight the Japanese, and after World War II, to engage in all out civil war against the Nationalists for control of all of China.
Part I describes the coins and paper money used by the early soviets from 1927 to 1934, which period ended in the Long March north to Shensi province.
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The Significance of Stamps Used on Bank Notes
Every collector, sooner or later, runs into a bank note or two with adhesive stamps affixed to them. This article, originally written by Dr. Arnold Keller, the dean of paper money collectors, explores the various reasons governments altered the original use of bank notes by affixing stamps thereto. Some stamps were attached to merely authenticate the value of the note itself after a change in government, other uses had tax implications, while still other applications were efforts to alter the economy of a region or whole country. Many of these schemes were ingenious beyond belief, and many of them actually worked!
All examples of stamps found on bank notes which are known to the author are enumerated in this article. Undoubtedly there are other examples. Fellow collectors who know of other examples are invited to share their knowledge with us.
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The Use of Bank Notes as an Instrument of Propaganda - Part I
All propaganda is designed to influence public opinion. Such communications take many forms including the subtle use of propaganda both printed and concealed which may be found on a nation's paper currency. Paper money can be a handy tool in the hands of a cunning propagandist, as seen in the examples given in Part I. These examples cover propaganda found on paper money issues from the American Revolution through the occupation of Europe during World War II.
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