5 Tiao

Guangxin Public Office was one of several semi-official regional bodies that issued paper currency in Manchuria during the late Qing period, filling a vacuum left by the absence of reliable central banking infrastructure in the northeastern provinces. Heilungkiang, the most sparsely populated and administratively thin of the three Manchurian provinces, had no formally chartered provincial bank until later in the decade, which pushed local commerce toward instruments like this.

The sole security feature — an official seal — was standard for the region and era, and did little to prevent counterfeiting. Surviving examples from this issuer are genuinely scarce.