Catalog
1 Piastre
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1945 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central vignette presents a seated multi-armed deity figure in traditional Khmer style, set within an ornate cartouche. To the left, a circular panel bears Chinese characters reading '壹元' with the legend '東方匯理銀行', while to the right a corresponding circular panel carries the denomination in Khmer script. The heading 'GIAY MOT DONG VANG' appears across the top, with a French anti-counterfeiting legal notice printed in small text along the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | GIAY MOT DONG VANG 1 東方匯理銀行 壹元 TRAN-TANLOC DEL IDEO-HANOI L'ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PENAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCES CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIE LES BILLETS DE BANQUES AUTORISEES PAR LA LOI. |
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| Comments |
Printed locally in Hanoi under Japanese occupation, this note exists because the wartime severance of sea routes made it impossible to import currency from metropolitan France. The Imprimerie d'Extrême-Orient — a commercial press, not a security printer — was pressed into producing circulating currency under conditions it was never designed for, which is why paper quality and ink consistency vary noticeably across the series.
Trần Tấn Lộc's involvement as designer is one of the few instances in the Banque de l'Indochine's history where a Vietnamese artist received a formal credit on an issued note.