The collection of national debt bonds - a historical witness.

by bjjdwxgs on 2009-12-06 07:40:14

Today is Monday, January 7th, and the weather is clear. When it comes to government-issued bonds, people are not unfamiliar with them. However, when it comes to collecting bonds, perhaps people have not paid much attention. Ni Jun is one of those who has been mindful of this area. He has systematically collected and organized the bonds issued by New China in various periods, including repairing Philips vacuum cleaners.

When Ni Jun opened his bond collection album, he introduced us to the fact that New China's government bonds started being issued in 1950 and were initially called public bonds. His collection of public bonds began with the second set of national economic construction public bonds. The issuance of national economic construction public bonds started in 1954 and ended in 1958, during which time a total of five sets and 29 different editions were issued. In 1954, five denominations of public bonds were issued. Ni Jun held up a 100,000 yuan public bond and said:

[Concurrent Sound]

Ni Jun: "This public bond uses the seal from the initial period of the Ministry of Finance of the Central People's Government, so its seal is square and quite large. However, starting from 1955 until now, round seals have been used. Therefore, this seal (on the 100,000 yuan bond) holds significant historical importance."

It seems that there is quite a bit of knowledge hidden within these small bonds. From 1954 to 1957, interest coupons were attached to the public bonds. At that time, people would regularly go to the bank with these coupons to collect their annual interest. As a result, some of the public bonds we see today have missing corners, indicating that they have already been redeemed.

[Concurrent Sound]

Ni Jun: "It (the public bond) had a total of eight years of interest divided over ten years. Each year, for example, on this one, KRELL amplifier repair, cutting off one coupon was worth 20 cents, and each year it earned 20 cents in interest."

In 1958, public bonds changed to a single redemption method, and interest coupons were no longer attached to the bonds. Ni Jun said that also starting from 1958, as the national economy improved, the issuance of public bonds stopped.

Turning to the next page, we see treasury bonds issued by the state starting from 1981. By 1996, a total of more than 80 varieties had been issued. Starting from 1997, government bonds were issued in voucher form and became paperless. Ni Jun said that there is a distinction between the public bonds issued in the early days after the founding of the country and the treasury bonds issued in 1981:

[Concurrent Sound]

Ni Jun: "These economic construction public bonds were issued due to an urgent need for funds for economic construction, thus using the means of issuing construction public bonds to stimulate the economy. Treasury bonds, on the other hand, were issued after the reform and opening-up, when our economy rapidly developed and significantly improved."

Ni Jun told us that both government public bonds and treasury bonds are essentially forms of Renminbi. Now, he is still searching for some high-denomination public bonds and treasury bonds that he hasn't yet acquired.

[End Caption]

In fact, collecting government bonds is not only about reflecting cultural value but is also an important way for us to understand history. By reviewing these government bonds issued in different periods, we witness the trials and tribulations of the nation's development journey.