Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 000 000 Hell Banknote
| Issuer | Hell Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Vouchers |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Tan paper printed in red and green inks; central vignette of a Chinese Emperor figure surrounded by Chinese inscriptions in each corner and along the margins. Serial number appears at upper left and upper right flanking the central vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 1000000 E64865 Hell Bank Note 地府通用鈔票 |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Hell Bank notes — also called "ghost money" or "joss paper" — are ceremonial items burned during Chinese funerary rites and festivals such as the Qingming and Hungry Ghost observances. The practice of burning paper offerings for the deceased predates printed banknotes by centuries, but the Bank of Hell format, mimicking real currency complete with serial numbers and official-looking seals, became widespread in the twentieth century largely through Hong Kong manufacturers supplying diaspora communities worldwide.
Not a financial instrument by any definition. Catalogued here for completeness.