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20 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
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| Currency | Franc (1919-1944) |
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| Obverse description | Brown on yellow underprint. Portrait bust of a Polynesian woman wearing a floral wreath at left, a central vignette of a traditional outrigger sailboat on calm coastal waters with palm trees in the background, and a seated native fisherman holding a spear at right. Denomination numeral '20' appears in each lower corner, with 'PAPEETE' inscribed in a panel at lower left. Two manuscript signature lines are present below the central vignette, captioned 'LE DIRECTEUR DE LA SUCCURSALE' and 'UN FONDÉ DE POUVOIRS'. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'INDOCHINE 20 VINGT FRANCS TAHITI L'ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PÉNAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÉS CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIÉ LES BILLETS DE BANQUES AUTORISÉES PAR LA LOI (Translation: Bank of Indochina 20 Twenty Francs Tahiti / Article 139 of the Penal Code punishes with forced labor those who have counterfeited or falsified bank notes authorized by law.) |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indochine's 20 Francs of 1944 was produced in Melbourne under wartime necessity — with Japanese forces occupying Indochina and French printing facilities inaccessible, the Free French and Allied administrations turned to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Note Printing Branch to keep currency flowing to liberated or contested territories. Australia printed several Indochina denominations during this period, an arrangement that would have been unthinkable outside the conditions of total war.
The Melbourne origin is sometimes doubted by collectors who assume French colonial notes meant French or Swiss printing. Pick 20 is proof otherwise.