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1 Dollar / 1 Piastre - Haïphong
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1900-1903 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette in intaglio, printed in red-orange, shows an allegorical composition: a crowned figure of France seated at right, holding a caduceus, with an Oriental woman seated at her feet to the left, amid drapery and foliage. The bank title 'BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE' appears in the upper panel, with the branch location 'HAÏPHONG' at the upper left. Denomination is expressed bilingually as 'ONE DOLLAR' and 'UNE PIASTRE', with decree dates and emission authorization text at upper right, and signature lines for 'Un Administrateur' and 'Le Directeur' below. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | $1 $1 BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE 東方滙理銀行 銀壹元正 奉本國特諭 L'ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PENAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCES A PERPE-TUITE CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIE LES BILLETS DE BANQUES AUTORISEES PAR LA LOI, AINSI QUE CEUX QUI AURONT FAIT USAGE DE CES BILLETS CONTREFAITS OU FALSIFIES. $1 $1 DANIEL DUPUIS ET GEORGES DUVAL FEC. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine was established by French decree in 1875, granted the monopoly of note issue across French Indochina and later extended into French India and the Pacific settlements. This early Haïphong-payable dollar note belongs to a period when the bank maintained regionally designated issues — each major commercial port, Haïphong, Saigon, Hanoi — had its own place of payment printed on the face, reflecting the colony's fragmented financial infrastructure rather than any difference in the underlying instrument.
Dupuis was among the most respected medallists of the Paris Mint in the late nineteenth century; his involvement signals that this issue was treated with the same seriousness as metropolitan currency. Léveillé's engraving work for the Banque de France gives the plates a pedigree unusual for a colonial note of this denomination.