1951 10,000 Yuan
In our upcoming August Hong Kong sale we are offering one of the greatest notes from the Chinese Catalog In addition, it is among the most storied example of those notes. This 10,000 Yuan note, considered the most desirable of the first series of Renminbi, displays some typical circulation for the technical grade, but is every bit worthy of the attention it surely will receive. No major netting defects are present, verified by the comment-free holder. The note was originally issued in Inner Mongolia and was not mass distributed. Herdsman with horses are seen on the center of the face design, with a muted purple-maroon border and underprint. It is one of just a handful certified by PMG, as there just aren’t enough available examples to supply the collector demand. This treasure is considered the Holy Grail of PRC notes, and this particular piece has the grandest history of all of the known issued notes of the type.
This example hails from one of the most prestigious banknote collections of all time: the Ruth W. Hill Collection. Mrs. Hill, or Mrs. Adolf B. Hill, Jr. as she preferred to be addressed, was known as the "Grand Old Lady of Paper Money." She is Honorary Life Member #2 of the I.B.N.S. and was the first to have the honor of Honorary Director for Life. She served as president of the IBNS (1979-81), and it has been said she once saved the IBNS from collapsing financially (mid 1960s). She was very philanthropic and took an interest in banknotes because her husband was a representative for a company that made specialty inks and dealt with the Bank of Mexico. Included with this lot is a photocopy of a page of the official ledger kept by the bank that received her collection upon her passing. On the page, is this note, with a listed catalog value of merely $200. However, bidders should be well aware that this note will cost exponentially more than that in today’s market. This is the same exact note that sold with the rest of Mrs. Hill’s collection for over $199,000 to Chinese Art Collector James Liu, who has held it since. This piece was one of the treasures in Mrs. Hill’s collection that truly exemplified what an extensive collector she was, and it will likely find its place in a collection that rivals hers.
The image shown of Mrs. Adolf B. Hill, Jr. is courtesy of the IBNS Journal.
