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10 000 000 Dollars - The Hell Bank Corporation
| Issuer | The Hell Bank Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 176 x 85 mm |
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| Obverse description | Multicolour vignette on orange guilloche underprint; bauhinia flower at left, portrait of the Jade Emperor at right in traditional imperial regalia. Central panel carries the denomination in bold letterpress with a cursive promise-to-pay legend and a red Chinese seal stamp at lower centre. Chinese characters and denomination numerals repeated in corner cartouches. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Monochrome red print on plain paper; three architectural vignettes arranged horizontally — a traditional Chinese pavilion with guardian dragon at left, the Temple of Heaven at centre, and a further pavilion with dragon at right. Decorative guilloche border frames the composition throughout. |
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| Comments |
Hell Bank notes are Chinese funerary offerings — joss paper printed to resemble currency and burned at graveside or ancestral ceremonies so the deceased receives wealth in the afterlife. The practice blends Taoist and Buddhist folk traditions and remains common across Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and among diaspora populations worldwide. The "Hell Bank Corporation" branding, complete with a fictitious governor's signature, became the dominant commercial format in the late twentieth century and is now so ubiquitous it has largely displaced older, more abstract joss paper designs.
These are not novelties or parodies. They are ritual objects, sold in bundles at temple supply shops.