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100 Francs B.I.C. overprint
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Francs |
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| Obverse description | Brown and green intaglio print over yellow underprint; black serial numbers at lower left and right. A bold black overprint reading "B.I.C." appears at top centre. The central vignette presents a front-facing allegorical female figure wearing a laurel wreath, holding a small statuette of Athena in her right hand, with a tree rendered in the background. Issuing authority and denomination inscriptions frame the vignette, with engraver credits "SÉB. LAURENT DEL" and "RITA SC" below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Côte Française des Somalis B.I.C. DJIBOUTI BANQUE DE L`INDO-CHINE CENT FRANCS PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES AU PORTEUR L`ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PENAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÈS CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIÉ LES BILLETS DE BANQUE AUTORISÉE PAR LA LOI LE PRESIDÉNT LE DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL DJIBOUTI 100 FR SÉB. LAURENT DEL RITA SC (Translation: French Somaliland. Bank of Indochina. One hundred francs payable in cash to bearer. Article 139 of the penal code punishes with forced labor those who have counterfeit or falsified banknotes authorized by law. The president. The general director.) |
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| Comments |
When the Free French authorities needed to supply currency to territories liberated from Vichy control, existing Indo-Chinese note stocks were overstamped "B.I.C." — Banque de l'Indo-Chine — to distinguish them from notes still circulating under Japanese-occupied administration. The overprint was a stopgap, not a planned issue, and the distinction mattered politically as much as monetarily.
The underlying plate was engraved by Marguerite Dreyfus, one of the few women working at that level in the Banque de France's atelier during the war years. She signed her work "Rita."