1000 Francs

Banque de l'Indo-Chine's 1000 Francs series was the highest denomination in regular circulation across French Indochina, covering what is now Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos under a single currency apparatus administered from Paris. The Banque de France handled production, which was standard practice for French colonial issues and ensured tight control over engraving quality and paper stock — Jonas designed, Beltrand engraved, and the result is among the more accomplished intaglio work to come out of any colonial banking program of the period.

The 1938 date places this note just ahead of the Japanese occupation, after which the Banque de l'Indo-Chine continued operating under Vichy and then Japanese authority in a deeply compromised role until 1945. Notes from this pre-occupation printing are considerably scarcer in circulated grades than the wartime issues.