$20,000.00
The world’s first paper money
Authenticated by Passco, Issued during China’s Ming Dynasty, this banknote stands as one of the earliest examples of paper currency in human history. Made from mulberry bark —a durable and flexible fiber— it bore the imperial promise that its value equaled a fixed amount of copper coins. Its inscription boldly declared: “To circulate forever.”
The system relied entirely on public trust in the state. As long as citizens believed in the government’s backing, the paper held value; when that faith collapsed, so did the currency. Over time, excessive printing and the loss of its metal backing led to massive devaluation, and by 1425, the Ming government abandoned paper money in favor of silver.
Though it failed economically, the Ming banknote marked a revolutionary moment in monetary history —the first recorded attempt to replace intrinsic metal value with confidence in a central authority. More than six centuries later, it endures as a symbol of faith’s power to give worth to mere paper.
