Catalog
20 Francs Without decrees
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Currency | Franc (1883-1949) |
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in blue intaglio on plain paper, the reverse is dominated by two large circular guilloche vignette frames flanking the central panel, each bordered by coiling dragon figures in high-relief engraving. The central area carries two repeated anti-counterfeiting warning texts in French above a dense underprint of repeated "BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE" legends, with denomination numerals "20 FRANCS" set in plain rectangular cartouches at lower left and lower right. |
| Reverse lettering | L`ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PÉNAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÉS À PERPÉTUITÉ CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIÉ LES BILLETS DE BANQUES AUTORISÉES PAR LA LOI, AINSI QUE CEUX QUI AURONT FAIT USAGE DE CES BILLETS CONTREFAITS OU FALSIFIÉS ; CEUX QUI LES AURONT INTRODUITS SUR LE TERRITOIRE FRANÇAIS SERONT PUNIS DE LA MÊME PEINE BANQUE DE L`INDO-CHINE 20 FRANCS A. BRAMTOT ET G DUVAL FEC. CH - WULLSCHLEGER SC. (Translation: Article 139 of the penal code punishes with forced labor in perpetuity those who have counterfeited or falsified banknotes authorized by law, as well as those who have made use of these counterfeit or falsified notes; those who have introduced them onto French territory shall be punished with the same penalty. Bank of Indochina. 20 Francs.) |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine series to which this note belongs was designed and engraved in Paris using the same technical apparatus as metropolitan French currency — Bramtot and Duval were both established figures at the Banque de France, and Wullschleger's engraving work appears across multiple French colonial issues of the period. The "without decrees" designation distinguishes this from earlier emissions that carried dated authorization decrees printed on the face, a practice the bank quietly dropped as the series matured.
Indochina's monetary system in 1921 was still adjusting to postwar exchange volatility between the piastre and franc zones, and these 20-franc notes circulated alongside piastre-denominated paper in a genuinely complicated dual-currency environment.