Patty V. writes: We have some Chinese paper money we are not sure about! One is a 5 and it says five custom gold units and is dated 1930 and says the central bank of china has a picture of a big building on the back and the front has a picture of a man on it.
Shanghai Customs Gold Units issues were originally used only for customs payments but circulated as currency during and after World War II. The issues were printed with the same series date from the 1930’s into the 1940’s.
Various denominations of the 1930 series were printed and they exist in 10 cent, 20 cents, 1 Custom Gold Unit, 5 CGU, 10 CGU, 20 CGU, 50 CGU, 100 CGU, 250 CGU and 500 CGU (issued after WW II). Each denomination is a different color. The 5 CGU that you have is black.
Value of your note depends on grade (condition) and variety (signature combinations and other minor changes). Range: US 10 cents -$50.