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20 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1945 |
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| Size | 154 × 75 mm |
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| Obverse description | Black and gray intaglio on brown guilloche underprint. A seated Buddha figure occupies the central vignette within an ornate arched frame, flanked by decorative scrollwork and a repeating floral underprint pattern. Chinese and Khmer script inscriptions appear at left and right respectively, with the denomination numeral '20' at lower corners and the Vietnamese legend 'GIAY HAI CHUC DONG VANG' along the lower border; a frieze of small Buddha figures runs across the top margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | GIAY HAI CHUC DONG VANG TRAN-TANLOC DEL & SC. IDEO. HANOI |
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| Comments |
Banque de l'Indochine's wartime production shifted entirely to local facilities after sea routes to France became untenable following the fall of 1940. The Imprimerie d'Extrême-Orient in Hanoi took on full responsibility for the colonial currency supply — a significant departure from the pre-war norm of metropolitan French printing houses handling the work. Trần Tấn Lộc's dual credit as both designer and engraver is unusual for the period and points to a genuinely local creative process rather than adapted European plates.
The Japanese occupation administration permitted the Banque de l'Indochine to continue operating through most of this period, which is why these notes carry institutional continuity despite being produced under occupation conditions. That arrangement ended abruptly with the Japanese coup of March 9, 1945.