Catalog
5 Dollars / 5 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1886-1896 |
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| Reference(s) | P#21 |
| Obverse description | Central vignette portrays Neptune reclining at left, leaning on an urn with a trident, surrounded by allegorical marine figures in a classical intaglio composition on a blue-toned note. The denomination FIVE DOLLARS / CINQ PIASTRES is printed in large letters across the centre, with the issuing authority BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE and date inscribed above. A circular blank guilloche medallion occupies the upper left, with serial number and branch designation to the corners, and three signature lines appear in the lower register. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE 5 PIASTRES A. BRAMTOT + G. DUVAL FEC CH-WULLSCHLEGER SC |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine was chartered in 1875 by the French government specifically to finance colonial commerce and to displace the mixture of Chinese, Mexican, and Spanish silver coin then circulating across the region. This note came out of that founding mandate — the dual denomination in dollars and piastres reflects genuine monetary uncertainty on the ground, where traders in Saigon, Hanoi, and Phnom Penh were still quoting prices in multiple systems simultaneously.
Bramtot and Duval were both Prix de Rome laureates, an unusual pedigree for banknote design work. Wullschleger's engraving was executed in Paris, almost certainly at the Imprimerie Nationale or under its direct supervision. The series ran nearly a decade with no major design revision — a long print life for early colonial issues of this ambition.