500 New Taiwan Dollars Banknote (Chungshan Building Green)

500 Yuan Dollar (Issued 1911)

The 500 Yuan New Taiwan Dollar banknote represents a significant milestone in the monetary history of the Republic of China, issued to mark the founding era of the modern Taiwanese state and its developing financial institutions. The year 1911 holds particular resonance as it corresponds to the establishment of the Republic of China, making this denomination a symbolic link between the nation’s revolutionary origins and its subsequent economic development under the Bank of Taiwan. This note, now withdrawn from circulation, stands as a tangible record of Taiwan’s mid-twentieth-century currency programme during a period of considerable political and economic transformation. Its withdrawal marked the close of a chapter in the New Taiwan Dollar series that had served everyday commerce across the island.

On the front, the dominant feature is a formal portrait of Chiang Kai-shek, the founding President and leader of the Republic of China government on Taiwan, rendered in a grey and olive-toned intaglio engraving to the left of centre. His likeness is depicted in a three-quarter angle, smiling slightly, dressed in a high-collared military tunic, the fine line engraving capturing facial detail with considerable precision. The upper portion of the note carries the Chinese characters 中華民國, meaning “Republic of China,” printed in bold black text against a pale ground, flanked on either side by decorative violet and green guilloché rosette patterns. To the right of the portrait, a large central guilloché medallion is rendered in shades of blue and green, incorporating an intricate floral and geometric lattice design. The denomination is expressed in Chinese characters 伍佰圓 prominently across the centre, with the numeral 500 appearing in violet at both the upper right and lower left corners, and the characters 伍佰 repeated at the lower left. The issuing authority, 臺灣銀行 (Bank of Taiwan), is printed in clear black Chinese characters in the lower central area. Two red serial number references in the form of small square seals appear on either side of the central text, and the serial number BR445155WJ is printed twice in black, appearing at the lower left and lower right of the note respectively. The overall colour palette blends soft olive greens, violet-purples, and pale blue-grey tones, with the border composed of a repeating decorative floral and scroll pattern in dark olive and violet ink.

The reverse presents a refined architectural engraving of a grand classical building rendered in grey-blue and olive tones at the centre of the composition, identifiable as the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, with its symmetrical façade, arched windows, colonnaded lower storeys, and traditional Chinese-style tiled roofline visible in fine detail. The building is set against a pale aquamarine background featuring subtle watermark-style guilloché wave patterning that spreads across the full width of the note. To the left and right of the central image, ornate decorative panels are rendered in violet and green, incorporating stylised floral motifs and geometric scroll designs consistent with traditional Chinese decorative arts. The denomination numeral 500 appears at the upper right in violet, and the Chinese characters 伍佰圓 are positioned at the upper left and lower right corners. Beneath the central architectural image, the text 中華民國六十五年製版 appears in small black characters, indicating the year of plate manufacture in the Republic of China calendar. The border of the reverse repeats a refined scroll and floral pattern in dark olive ink, framing the composition on all four sides.

Looking to exchange leftover currency? Your 500 Yuan New Taiwan Dollar banknote can be sold to Webuyallcurrency.com alongside other old or withdrawn New Taiwan Dollars banknotes, turning spare money from a trip or collection into cash in one simple transaction.

• Indicate the quantity of 500 Yuan Dollar banknotes you want to exchange
• Click the ‘Add to your account’ button
• Your online account now shows the exchange value

Whether you want to sell foreign coins and notes or exchange leftover currency from past trips, Webuyallcurrency.com accepts New Taiwan Dollars banknotes alongside modern money and settles everything in a single, easy transaction.

Other New Taiwan Dollars you can exchange: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200, 1000, 2000.