1 Piastre Laos Issue

The Institut d'Emission des Etats du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam was a short-lived transitional authority, operational only between 1952 and 1955 as France wound down its monetary control over Indochina. This note is specifically the Laos branch issue of what was essentially a tri-state emission — the same De La Rue plates were adapted with different overprints or designation text for each of the three successor states, a practical economy that reflected the political urgency of the moment.

The institute dissolved within a year of this note's issue date, with Laos establishing its own national bank in 1954–55. Few of these 1 Piastre notes saw meaningful circulation given the denomination's negligible purchasing power by that point.