PMG Certifies Rare 1951 10,000 Yuan

Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) has authenticated and graded a very rare 1951 10,000 Yuan note from the People's Republic of China. Known as the "Running Horses" type, it is one of just nine examples recorded in the PMG Population Report.

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PMG attributed the note as Pick# 858Aa and graded it PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine. (The Pick number refers to the catalog numbers originally developed by Albert Pick and used by the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money.) Only two finer examples exist in the PMG Population Report, both graded PMG 50 About Uncirculated.

The primary circulation area for these notes was the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, an area in northern China on the Mongolian border that was relatively sparsely populated. Therefore, it is thought that the original print run was low. In addition, the high denomination of the note meant few people could afford to hold on to it when the first series of the renminbi was withdrawn in 1955.

As a result, these notes are highly valued today by collectors of Chinese paper money. The note recently submitted for PMG certification was valued by the collector at 3 million RMB (about $450,000 USD). Another example of this note in a much lower grade sold for $199,750 USD when it was offered by Heritage Auctions in April 2014.

The note was submitted on behalf of a client by Shanghai Yintai, an Official Submission Center for PMG in China. To learn more about Shanghai Yintai, visit yintaijb.com.