This note is part of a group of five notes purportedly coming from the Pflummer collection which was sold to an English nobleman, the Marquess of Bute, who in turn, sold the collection to Spink's. Around 1983, George D. Hatie, the President of the American Numismatic Association, bought it from Ted Uhl, a paper money dealer. It eventually ended up in the collection of William H. McDonald, Founder of Canadian Paper Money Society.

For over 150 years, the note was believed to be genuine because it is documented in the General History of China published in French by P. Du Halde in 1736.

In the early 1980s, however, many numismatists began to question the accuracy of this chapter of book. It's now a general knowledge that both the facsimile drawing shown in the book and the note are bogus. Read The Story of Five Ancient Chinese Notes on my blog.

I bought this note from William H. McDonald's son-in-law through Joel Shafer of Lyn Knight Auctions on September 17, 2010.