1000 Francs

Banque de l'Indochine's high-denomination wartime notes present a complicated printing history, and this one is no exception. By 1945, French Indochina had passed through Japanese occupation, the March 9 coup that dismantled the colonial administration overnight, and the chaos of the August Revolution — meaning notes printed in New York were often issued into a monetary environment that had already fractured beyond repair.

American Bank Note Company produced this series stateside precisely because French colonial printing infrastructure was either compromised or inaccessible during the war years. Distribution into the territory was patchy at best.