Catalog
20 Cents
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920-1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Piastre (1880-1952) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a single purple tone and carries an elaborate letterpress border composed of paired pilasters with foliate capitals flanking a broad horizontal floral guilloche frieze at the top. The central text field presents the authorising decree reference DÉCRET DU 3 AVRIL 1901 and the emission authorisation date ÉMISSION AUTORISÉE LE 6 OCTOBRE 1919, followed by the full anti-counterfeiting legal warning in French. The numeral 20 appears in plain panels on each side, and the imprint G. FRAIPONT and CHAIX. PARIS are present in the lower corners. |
| Reverse lettering | DÉCRET DU 3 AVRIL 1901 ÉMISSION AUTORISÉE LE 6 OCTOBRE 1919 L'ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PÉNAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÉS À PERPÉTUITÉ CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIÉ LES BILLETS DE BANQUES AUTORISÉES PAR LA LOI, AINSI QUE CEUX QUI AURONT FAIT USAGE DE CES BILLETS CONTREFAITS OU FALSIFIÉS. G. FRAIPONT CHAIX. PARIS |
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| Comments |
Banque de l'Indo-Chine issued fractional paper currency during this period largely because the region's silver coinage — particularly the Piastre — was being hoarded or exported as bullion, leaving everyday small transactions without a practical medium of exchange. The 20 Cents note was an emergency response to that gap, not a planned denomination.
Imprimerie Chaix was primarily a commercial and poster printer; its association with Gustave Fraipont, a prolific Belle Époque illustrator, reflects the firm's artistic rather than strictly security-printing background. That provenance makes the series somewhat unusual among colonial currency of the period.