Posted 05/31/2026 07:30 am
Thank you for your reply augsburger.
Yes, I too have seen many fake coins and banknotes that originated in China. I was once passed a 10 yuan banknote in Shanghai that looked excellent, but my taxi driver instantly knew it was fake. I guess they have to be experts at spotting them instantly, at least back when notes were still used over there.
You're right that my note looks different. The raised first number, wonky print. The numbers look thinner. The note is about the same brown shade as a Japanese yen banknote. One thing I can't find is a backlit photo of a genuine note to compare against mine. It's meant to have a star pattern, and there is a pattern on my note, but it's so worn that I don't know if it's the right one.
My note could be a contemporary counterfeit, or maybe printed later. The brown spotting on it is completely on point compared to many other notes I have seen from that era. If it's a contemporary counterfeit then I'm happy with that as well, as I collect coins and notes that were made in the era of issue.
The bag of notes where I found this 200 yuan note was very cheap, so if it's fake it's no problem. Being cheap doesn't automatically mean it's fake, as at the same shop I bought over $173 ASW silver coins for $15 by searching through a 'world coins' box. They had no idea what they had, so perhaps with this bag of notes that's the same case.
Yes, I too have seen many fake coins and banknotes that originated in China. I was once passed a 10 yuan banknote in Shanghai that looked excellent, but my taxi driver instantly knew it was fake. I guess they have to be experts at spotting them instantly, at least back when notes were still used over there.
You're right that my note looks different. The raised first number, wonky print. The numbers look thinner. The note is about the same brown shade as a Japanese yen banknote. One thing I can't find is a backlit photo of a genuine note to compare against mine. It's meant to have a star pattern, and there is a pattern on my note, but it's so worn that I don't know if it's the right one.
My note could be a contemporary counterfeit, or maybe printed later. The brown spotting on it is completely on point compared to many other notes I have seen from that era. If it's a contemporary counterfeit then I'm happy with that as well, as I collect coins and notes that were made in the era of issue.
The bag of notes where I found this 200 yuan note was very cheap, so if it's fake it's no problem. Being cheap doesn't automatically mean it's fake, as at the same shop I bought over $173 ASW silver coins for $15 by searching through a 'world coins' box. They had no idea what they had, so perhaps with this bag of notes that's the same case.
