Catalog
20 Dollars / 20 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1898 |
| 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 | DECRETS DE 21 JANVIER 1875 ET DU 20 FÉVRIER 1888 BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE SAIGON TWENTY DOLLARS VINGT PIASTRES TO BE PAID ON DEMAND TO BEARER PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES AU PORTEUR A. BRAMTOT ET G. DUVAL-FEC. CH.WULLSCHLEGER SC. |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a vertical format with continuous geometric lattice-work border panels enclosing Chinese calligraphic text arranged in vertical columns. A central circular guilloche motif anchors the composition, flanked by vertical text panels bearing the bank designation and value inscription in Chinese characters. Corner ornaments with crosshatch patterns complete the decorative framework, consistent with the Chinese-script format issued for circulation in the Chinese-speaking communities of Indochina. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indochine's dual-denomination format — denominating simultaneously in dollars and piastres — reflects the monetary confusion of late nineteenth-century French Indochina, where the Mexican silver dollar circulated alongside the French colonial piastre at rough parity. The bank, chartered in Paris in 1875, held the monopoly on note issue across the federation, and this series predates the piastre's full displacement of competing silver coinage by several years.
Bramtot and Duval were both associated with the Imprimerie Nationale in Paris; Wullschleger's engraving work appears across several high-prestige Indochinois issues of the period. The combination is unusual enough to note.