Catalog
20 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905-1907 |
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| Printer | Banque de France, France |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE DÉCRETS DES 21 JANVIER 1875, 20 FÉVRIER 1888, 16 MAI 1900 & 3 AVRIL 1903 HAIPHONG ÉMISSION AUTORISÉE LE 2 AOÛT 1891 HAIPHONG VINGT PIASTRES PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES AU PORTEUR A. BRAMTOT ET G. DUVAL-FEC. CH.WULLSCHLEGER SC. |
| Reverse description | Vertical format reverse printed in terracotta red, with the central field occupied by a large circular guilloche medallion flanked by a key-shaped decorative frame. Chinese characters are arranged vertically in the central panel reading the denomination and bank name, with additional inscriptions in the surrounding panels and corner cartouches. The overall layout follows a formal architectural symmetry typical of late 19th-century colonial banknote design. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine's early 20th-century piastre notes were printed by the Banque de France — an arrangement that reflected the colonial bank's close relationship with French financial institutions rather than any emergency or outsourcing necessity. Wullschleger was a prolific engraver for the Banque de France during this period, and his work on the Indo-Chine plates shows the same fine-line intaglio technique applied to metropolitan French issues of the same decade.
Bramtot, better known as a Salon painter and medallist, contributed figure designs that were then adapted for the engraved format by Wullschleger — a common division of labor in French note production at the time. The 1905–1907 dating window for P#15 reflects sequential issue batches rather than a single print run, and surviving examples with legible date notations help narrow individual pieces within that range.