Banknote seal (China)

Cash seal (simplified Chinese: 宝钞印; traditional Chinese: 寳鈔印; pinyin: Baochao Yin; "Baochao" means "valuable money", "Yin" means "seal"), is a kind of special seal used particularly in cash authority, or just on paper money or banknotes. It was also one of the first three means that China invented first to distinguish real and fake paper money.

The short name is Chao Yin (simplified Chinese: 钞印; traditional Chinese: 鈔印), and the full name is Seal of Baochao (simplified Chinese: 宝钞之印; traditional Chinese: 寳鈔之印; pinyin: Baochao Zhiyin), or Baochao Yinjian (simplified Chinese: 宝钞印鉴; traditional Chinese: 寳鈔印鑑). The name can also be simply translated as "money seal" or "banknote seal".

Such kind of seal first appeared in the Song Dynasty, when China first used paper-based money and governmental financial notes in a large scale.

In Song Dynasty, especially during the Southern Song Dynasty, China's economy volume reached new height, and its oversea trading was booming. The traditional copper or iron coins could not satisfy the demand of money circulation. Under this background, the paper money/banknote so called Jiaozi (交子) was first appeared in China.

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