Catalog
20 Francs Red text
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1928-1938 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Blue intaglio print over yellow underprint. To the left, a peacock (Phasianidae sp.) perches on a branch facing right, rendered in detailed engraved style; butterflies (Papilionoidea sp.) appear at upper right. Trilingual text in French, Arabic, and Amharic runs across the note, with a penal code warning against counterfeiting at the base. |
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| Protection description | Native's head in profile. |
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| Comments |
Clément Serveau designed the obverse, engraved by Ernest Deloche — a pairing better known for their work on metropolitan French issues of the same period. The reverse carries a rare engraver's credit: Marguerite Dreyfus, known professionally as Rita, one of the few women to hold an engraving position at the Banque de France during the interwar years.
The "Red text" designation distinguishes this from the earlier blue-text printing of the same plate — a change made mid-series, the precise trigger for which remains debated among specialists. The ten-year issuance window spanning 1928–1938 reflects relatively stable colonial monetary conditions, unusual for the region in that decade.