I purchased this very recently through ebay. This is a 100 Yuan Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC). In the days when the Yuan was not allowed to be change in the open market, foreigners going to China had to buy this FEC note from the government thus paying whatever official exchange rate that was in force at that time. It also limited the holder to shopping at certain places only. This FEC note is now very very difficult to get.In fact when this note came out in ebay, I did not win the auction as the price went beyond my limit. But I was surprised when the owner gave me a second chance offer because he said he had another note available and I had to pay him my highest bid. I did that. When the note arrived, I realised that I had struck lucky. The original note that was on offer was actually a 1990 version thus had a catalogue value of around 400 Yuan. But the one that I got was a 1980 version and had a catalogue value of 900 Yuan! I am using a Chinese notes catalogue which I bought when I was in China recently. The book is in Mandarin and I can't read it but I know enough to know where the prices are. Now I feel guilty whether I should tell the owner...
1 comment:
I'd love to find an online resource regarding these notes and their values etc. I have 850 of these FEC that my father gave me some years back and although at the time they were nearly worthless I was shocked to see their growing desirability among collectors. To sunderstand the values or date codes would be very handy.
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