BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS CENT PIASTRES TO BE PAID ON DEMAND TO BEARER PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES AU PORTEUR A. BRAMTOT & G. DUVAL FEC. J. ROBERT SC.
Banque de l'Indo-Chine was a private colonial bank incorporated in Paris in 1875, granted the right of note issue across French Indochina, New Caledonia, and French Polynesia. The dual denomination — Dollars and Piastres — reflects the monetary reality of the region at the time: the Mexican silver dollar and its piastre equivalent circulated alongside each other, and the bank's notes had to function across both systems. The piastre was formally tied to silver, which made these notes vulnerable to the sharp falls in silver prices through the 1890s.
Bramtot was a Prix de Rome winner best known as a painter; his involvement in banknote design was channeled through the Banque de France's supplier network. Robert's engraving work for the series is among the finer colonial intaglio of the period.
Banque de l'Indo-Chine was a private colonial bank incorporated in Paris in 1875, granted the right of note issue across French Indochina, New Caledonia, and French Polynesia. The dual denomination — Dollars and Piastres — reflects the monetary reality of the region at the time: the Mexican silver dollar and its piastre equivalent circulated alongside each other, and the bank's notes had to function across both systems. The piastre was formally tied to silver, which made these notes vulnerable to the sharp falls in silver prices through the 1890s.
Bramtot was a Prix de Rome winner best known as a painter; his involvement in banknote design was channeled through the Banque de France's supplier network. Robert's engraving work for the series is among the finer colonial intaglio of the period.