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5 Dollars / 5 Piastres - Haïphong
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1900 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | DÉCRETS DES 21 JANVIER ET 20 FÉVRIER 1888 BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE HAIPHONG FIVE DOLLARS CINQ PIASTRES TO BE PAID ON DEMAND TO BEARER PAYABLES A VUE AU PORTEUR |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in red-brown intaglio and carries a central band of Chinese characters flanked by two large circular cancellation punch-holes. A dragon vignette appears at the right margin, and the text BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE repeats in a guilloche-style underprint band across the lower portion. The engravers' credits appear in small letterpress at the lower left, and an ANNULE cancellation stamp is applied diagonally. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine was chartered by the French state in 1875 primarily to finance colonial trade, not to serve a broad public — and this Haïphong-payable note reflects that purpose directly. Haïphong was the principal port of Tonkin and the commercial throat of northern Indochina; a note denominated there was a trading instrument, not pocket money.
Bramtot and Duval were both staff artists at the Imprimerie nationale in Paris, and Wullschleger's engraving work for the series is among the finer intaglio production the colonial note world saw at the turn of the century. The Haïphong place-of-payment designation was printed into the plate itself, making these notes non-interchangeable with the concurrent Saigon issues of the same denomination.