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HELL NOTES 1960s John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower Khrushchev Stalin Cold War Soviet
HELL NOTES 1960s John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower Khrushchev Stalin Cold War Soviet
$11.25
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$11.25
- 4 notes as shown
- the photo of the backside is the same backside for all
- Includes RARE hard to find Khrushchev and Eisenhower notes from the series
What are hell notes?
Hell notes (also called joss paper, ghost money, or spirit money) are burned in East and Southeast Asian traditions as a ritual offering to the dead. The practice comes from a blend of Taoist, Buddhist, and folk beliefs about the afterlife.
Here’s the reasoning behind it:
1. Providing for Ancestors
The notes are symbolic currency. Burning them is believed to transmit their value to deceased relatives in the spirit world, ensuring that ancestors have the means to live comfortably, pay debts, or even bribe underworld officials.
2. Maintaining Filial Piety
In cultures influenced by Confucian values, honoring one’s ancestors is central. Burning hell notes is a way of showing respect and care, fulfilling ongoing obligations to family even after death.
3. Spiritual Protection
Offerings aren’t only for ancestors. Sometimes people burn hell notes for wandering spirits or deities, so those beings don’t cause misfortune. The ritual helps maintain harmony between the living and the unseen world.
4. Ritual Symbolism
The act of burning transforms the paper into something that crosses the boundary between the human realm and the spirit realm. Fire acts as the medium that “delivers” the offering.
So, hell notes aren’t about literal money but about keeping spiritual and familial relationships balanced across the line of death.
Soviet and American leaders on hell notes
The mix of Russian and American leaders on hell notes isn’t about real-world politics in the Cold War sense, but more about symbolism, market appeal, and a bit of playful irony. A few key reasons:
Great question — the mix of Russian and American leaders on hell notes isn’t about real-world politics in the Cold War sense, but more about symbolism, market appeal, and a bit of playful irony. A few key reasons:
1. Hell Notes as Satire and Pop Culture
Unlike traditional joss paper (which has austere designs), many 20th-century hell notes took on almost parody-like qualities. Printers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and later mainland China started using images of famous politicians (Eisenhower, Kennedy, Khrushchev, Stalin, Mao, even Queen Elizabeth II). The point wasn’t reverence — it was a tongue-in-cheek way of imagining “powerful world leaders” running banks in the afterlife.
2. Strength as a Universal Symbol
In the folk logic of these notes, it doesn’t matter if a leader was democratic or autocratic. What matters is that they represented strength, power, and control over resources in life. That same “authority” was imagined as valuable in the underworld, where your ancestors might need to deal with powerful officials or bureaucrats.
3. Global Recognition & “Lucky Exoticism”
Notes with American presidents and Soviet leaders weren’t made for just one country’s diaspora. They were exported widely — to Chinatowns in the U.S., Southeast Asia, and beyond. Using globally recognizable figures gave the notes a kind of prestige look and made them appealing to buyers who might not read Chinese but still wanted to perform the ritual.
4. Cold War as Theater
There’s also a sly humor: by putting adversaries like Kennedy and Khrushchev on the same “currency,” printers collapse geopolitical rivalry into the idea that all leaders end up in the same afterlife bureaucracy. It’s both irreverent and oddly comforting — everyone, great or small, faces the same destiny.
Chinese (Hong Kong)
-4張「冥紙」（如圖所示的祭祀用“地獄鈔票”）
-背面相同（所有鈔票的背面都一樣）
-包括罕見難找的赫魯曉夫和艾森豪威爾鈔票，亦有甘迺迪與史達林
Chinese (Taiwan)
-4張「冥幣」（如圖所示的焚化祭祀用紙錢）
-照片中的背面為所有紙鈔相同的背面
-內含稀有且難尋的赫魯雪夫與艾森豪鈔票，另有甘迺迪及史達林
Japanese
-「冥銭（めいせん）」と呼ばれる儀式用の紙幣（写真のような“地獄銀行券”）4枚
-裏面はすべて同じデザインです
-希少で入手困難なフルシチョフとアイゼンハワーの紙幣を含み、さらにケネディとスターリンもあります
Russian
-4 «адских банкноты» (ритуальные «деньги для сжигания», как на фото)
-Оборотная сторона одинакова для всех купюр
-Включает РЕДКИЕ, труднодоступные банкноты с Хрущёвым и Эйзенхауэром, а также с Кеннеди и Сталиным