RMB Banknotes and Coins

This article is trying to show you the main banknotes and coins that are used in mainland China and some surrounding Asian countries nowadays. There have been five series of different design of RMB banknotes and coins since the first series RMB was issued in 1948. The latest series of the RMB was introduced in 2005, so you will see the number of the year at the wrong side of the banknotes. Occasionally, you may see banknotes that were issued in 1999. The banknotes( include 100 yuan, 50 yuan, 20 yuan, 10 yuan, 5 yuan etc.) of year of 2005 and 1999 have the same design.

On the top left area of the right side of the banknotes, we will see 中(zhōng) 国(guó) 人(rén) 民(mín) 银(yín) 行(háng) , which means the People's Bank of China. The People's Bank of China (PBC or PBOC) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China with the power to control monetary policy and regulate financial institutions in mainland China.

On the right side of the banknotes, you will see the denomination printed in Arabic number and financial Chinese numeral characters. For example,

壹(yī) one 贰(èr) two 伍(wǔ) five 拾(shí) ten 佰(bǎi) hundred

圆(yuán) (the principal unit) 角(jiǎo) ( 1 jiao= 0.1 yuan)

First, the banknote with the biggest denomination is 100 yuan （yì bǎi yuán）, which is written as ￥100.00.

Then here goes the banknote with the second big denomination, 50 yuan （wǔ shí yuán ） , which is written as ￥50.00

Next, the 20 yuan banknote （èr shí yuán）, which is written as ￥20.00

Next, the 10 yuan banknote （shí yuán）, which is written as ￥10.00

Next, the 5 yuan banknote （wǔ yuán）, which is written as ￥5.00

or 

(notice that the second 5 yuan banknote was printed in 1980, so the chance you see it is not big)

next, the 1 yuan banknote (yì yuán), which is written as ￥1.00

or

next, the 5 jiao banknote（wǔ jiǎo）, which is written as ￥0.50

next, the 1 jiao banknote（yì jiǎo）, which is written as ￥0.10

Sometime, you may see the coins too:

1 yuan coin:

1 jiao coin:

More information about the RMB:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renminbi

http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2005-08/31/content_3425306.htm