Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'INDOCHINE VINGT FRANCS NOUMÉA LE DIRECTEUR DE LA SUCCURSALE UN FONDÉ DE POUVOIRS (Translation: BANK OF INDOCHINA TWENTY FRANCS NOUMEA THE BRANCH DIRECTOR A PROXY OFFICER) |
| Reverse description | Printed in olive-green, the reverse is dominated by a large central vignette of a stylized ceremonial mask with broad facial features, flanked by architectural column motifs forming a symmetrical frame. The denomination appears in large numerals and text at left, while a legal warning against counterfeiting is inscribed in a panel at right. Guilloche border elements and decorative panels appear in the upper corners. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indochine's wartime 20 Francs issue came about under extraordinary administrative pressure. With Japanese occupation cutting off normal supply chains, the bank was forced to arrange printing through whatever channels remained available — a situation that produced measurable inconsistencies in paper quality and ink registration across surviving examples of this series.
By 1944, the franc-piastre relationship had become a tool of Japanese extraction policy, with exchange rates manipulated to drain resources from the colony. Notes like this one circulated within that deliberately distorted monetary system.