1 Đồng

P#45 is among the earliest banknotes issued by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam following Ho Chi Minh's declaration of independence in September 1945. The new government had no functioning central bank and no established printing infrastructure — these first issues were produced under genuinely improvised conditions, with limited ink consistency and uneven paper stock that varies noticeably across surviving examples.

The French still controlled much of the country's financial apparatus at the time of issue, making the circulation of this note as much a political act as an economic one. Many were quickly withdrawn or destroyed during the subsequent Franco-Viet Minh conflict, and attrition has been severe.