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20 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Green on pale underprint. At left, a female figure with wreath; at center, a sailing boat vignette; at right, a native fisherman. A red oval overprint inscribed NOUVELLES HÉBRIDES FRANCE LIBRE, incorporating a palm tree motif and the Cross of Lorraine, was applied to the base New Caledonia note (P-49). |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'INDOCHINE VINGT FRANCS NOUMÉA 20 (Translation: Bank of Indochina Twenty Francs Noumea) |
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| Comments |
Banque de l'Indochine's wartime operations created genuine logistical nightmares for currency supply. With French Indochina under Japanese occupation and metropolitan France itself occupied, the bank's normal printing arrangements through European firms were impossible to maintain. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Note Printing Branch stepped in as the practical solution, producing this series for the Free French administration.
The Australian connection is often overlooked. Melbourne-produced Indochinese francs represent an unusual moment when Allied printing infrastructure was redirected to colonial monetary needs — a decision driven entirely by geography and wartime necessity rather than any established relationship between the two institutions.