Banknotes of Foreign Banks in China - 100 Dollars note 1920 Chinese-American Bank of Commerce, P-S234s.
Obverse: The vignette on the first issue was a rosette motif at the center flanked by a Chinese flag shield (First flag of the Republic of China, or "Five-colored flag") and laurel wreath at left and a small Statue of Liberty at right, Chinese inscriptions.
Reverse: The name of the issuing bank in English is placed in the upper center, the denomination value "100" within a guilloche at center, the face value in figures 100 at each of the four corners.
Printer: ABNC - American Bank Note Company, New York.
Banknotes of Foreign Banks in China
Chinese-American Bank of Commerce 1920
1 Dollar 5 Dollars 10 Dollars 50 Dollars 100 Dollars
As the twentieth century opened , American businessmen, spurred on by American diplomats in China, increasingly sought to profit from the Chinese market by taking on Chinese partners. This was a difficult task which usually ended in failure. This was not so in the case of the Chinese-American Bank of Commerce, however. This joint venture bank, founded in 1910, was organized with both the Chinese and Americans each providing half the capital. It was registered in Peking and obtained permission to issue its own notes in China. The firm proved that despite great difficulties self-interest, ideal circumstances, and luck could overcome the problems that usually defeated others. Shortly after organizing, the bank moved its headquarters from Peking to Shanghai in order to get away from the political atmosphere in the capital while seeking greater commercial freedom in Shanghai. The bank maintained branches in Hankow, Harbin, Peking, Shanghai, Shangtung and Tientsin. Bank notes of 1, 5, 10,50 and 100 dollars dated 15 July 1920 were produced.
The position of Executive Director was held by a North Carolinian, James A. Thomas. Earlier in his career Thomas had held a reputation as an ingenious salesman for the American Tobacco Company. He was originally sent to China in 1897 to explore the Asian market. Later his company merged with the British Tobacco Company to form the British American Tobacco Company (BAT), which was one of the most successful foreign undertakings in China. Thomas had been the Managing Director of BAT from its beginning in 1905, when in 1920 he obtained a leave-of absence from BAT to organize the Chinese-American Bank of Commerce. His southern friends were looking for new export opportunities for American hand rolled cigarettes at the time and were eager to have their own bank in China with which to facilitate their business. As Thomas later wrote: “It was obvious to me that China was changing all the time and I never thought of refusing to go wherever my company sent me. I was carried along by wanderlust and the desire to establish new markets for American cigarettes”.
James Thomas was also quite the philanthropist. From his Shanghai office, he helped to found two schools, a medical college, and a famine-relief committee. Perhaps more than anyone else, he was also responsible for introducing a nation to a smoking habit that persists today.
The bank produced two separate issues, all in dollar denominations. The principal vignette on the first issue was a rosette motif at the center flanked by a Chinese shield and laurel wreath at left and a small Statue of Liberty at right. In the second issue the Chinese shield is retained and the Statue of Liberty enlarged within an oval, with ships and an airplane in the background.
By 1929 Chinese-American Bank of Commerce investors, upset that the bank lacked a clear business direction for the future and tired of internal squabbles, sold off their stock. The bank was forced to close shortly thereafter. Most of the bank's notes were redeemed.