Catalog
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| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 178 × 92 mm |
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| Obverse description | Brown, lilac and red underprint on a 20 Francs base note (P#12c). A female figure appears at right, with two vertical signatures at left center. Black overprint reads CENT FRANCS and CENT across the upper center and 100 at lower center, revaluing the note to 100 Francs. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | PAPEETE 20FR L'ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PENAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCES CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIE LES BILLETS DE BANQUES AUTORISEES PAR LA LOI. 100 FR ROQUE FEC. E. RITA SC. (Translation: Papeete 20Fr Article 139 of the Penal Code punishes with hard labour those who counterfeit or falsify bank notes authorized by law. 100 Fr) |
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| Comments |
When Japan severed Indochina's sea links with metropolitan France in 1940, the colony could no longer receive freshly printed currency from Paris. The Banque de l'Indochine's solution was blunt: overprint existing stock of the 100 Francs P#12c with new authorization text rather than wait for supplies that weren't coming. The overprint distinguishes this issue from the base note, though the underlying Deloche-engraved plates remained unchanged.
Marguerite Dreyfus — who signed her work as "Rita" — was one of very few women working as a professional banknote engraver at the Banque de France during this period.