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20 Francs Papeete
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1928 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Francs |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'INDOCHINE VINGT FRANCS PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES AU PORTEUR PAPEETE 20 LE PRÉSIDENT, LE DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL, CL. SERVEAU FEC. E. DELOCHE SC. (Translation: Bank of Indochina Twenty Francs Payable in cash to bearer Papeete The President, The General Director) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Native head in profile. |
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| Comments |
Banque de l'Indochine's authority to issue currency in French Polynesia derived from concessions granted by the French government, making it a commercial bank functioning as a colonial monetary authority — an arrangement that persisted well into the postwar decades. This 20 Francs note for Papeete was produced by the Banque de France's printing works in Paris, which also handled French metropolitan issues, lending the colonial series a technical quality that most private printers of the period couldn't match.
Marguerite Dreyfus, who worked under the name "Rita," engraved the reverse — her presence in the Banque de France's atelier at that time was unusual enough to be worth noting.