20 Xu

The National Bank of Vietnam issued this note in 1975, the year reunification ended the southern republic entirely. Notes of this series had an extremely short useful life — the unified Socialist Republic introduced a new currency system in 1978 that demonetized southern-issued paper, and the exchange ceilings imposed during that reform meant most low-denomination notes were simply abandoned rather than converted.

A print run of just over twelve million sounds substantial, but the 1978 demonetization wiped out most of the circulated stock. Uncirculated survivors are disproportionately common relative to well-worn examples, suggesting quantities were held unissued when the cutoff came.