1 Piastre Red text

This note belongs to the final chapter of French monetary administration in Indochina, issued just as the three Associated States were moving toward full independence. The Institut d'Emission replaced the Banque de l'Indochine as the issuing authority in 1952 — a political concession to Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese autonomy that stopped well short of genuine monetary independence, since Paris retained control of the currency mechanism through the new institute.

Hourriez's engraving work for the Banque de France atelier was technically accomplished; the red colorway on this denomination was a deliberate differentiator within the series. By 1955 the institute itself was dissolved as each state established its own central bank.