Ming Dynasty, 1 Kuan, 1368-1399
Uniface
This 1 Kuan banknote of the Ming Dynasty is from the estate of Hubbard Ballou, late of Chester, Vermont. Mr. Ballou was a missionary born in Peking, China and living there until the end of WWII.
Mr. Ballou received this banknote from his friend, L. Carrington Goodrich, who was associated with Yenching University, Peking in the 1930's. Mr. Goodrich told Mr. Ballou that he received the banknote under the following circumstances:
Sometimes in 1936 one of the walls surounding Peking was being torn down. When the laborers got to the huge gate, they found, to their surprise, a large bale of the 1 Kuan banknotes of the Ming Dynasty buried in the wall itself. After removing the soiled and damaged notes, the workers sold the banknotes to those standing around and Mr. Goodrich came upon this note at that time. He told Mr. Ballou that he purchased two of them for a few "coppers", which amounted to just a few pennies.
This note is cataloged in the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money as catalog number: China AA10. It is unrivaled in the world of paper money as the world's first banknote. It is over 600 years old!
Bought from the Ed Bohannon Collection of Chinese Paper Money, April 28, 2001. This 222mm x 340mm note is also the world's largest bank note.