NOMISMA

Zhongtong Yuanbao Jiaochao note

Yuan, Zhongtong era (from 1260) ・ paper ・ 13th century ・ Yuan

Zhongtong Yuanbao Jiaochao note(obverse)obverse
The British Library, uploaded to Zeno.ru by Andrew West (BabelStone) through the IDP website. / Public domain(Wikimedia Commons)

About the photos

The reverse is not shown on this page. Only the obverse is pictured.

The paper money Kublai had issued in the first year of Zhongtong (1260). Its face value is written in wen; the fragment shown corresponds to five hundred wen. The Yuan set the copper coin aside and drew the trade of the whole country onto this paper alone — the first state in the world to make paper the only legal money. What survives is a torn fragment, and only the printed characters and seals still carry the promise of that time.