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5 Francs Without decrees
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Green intaglio print on white paper with black text and serial numbers. Central vignette shows an allegorical standing female figure holding a caduceus, gazing downward toward a seated Asian woman at left, rendered in a classical academic style. Trilingual inscriptions appear in French, Arabic, and Amharic, with the denomination numeral flanked by guilloche borders. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Uniface green intaglio print. Two large Oriental dragon vignettes occupy the upper and lower registers, framed by an intricate guilloche border incorporating repeating Greek key and floral motifs at the corners. Denomination numeral "5" appears in each corner within ornamental cartouches, and a diagonally perforated SPECIMEN overprint is visible across the central panel of this example. |
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| Comments |
The "Without decrees" designation distinguishes this issue from earlier 5 Francs notes of the same series that bore printed authorization decree dates on the face — a bureaucratic requirement phased out as the colonial bank's legal footing became more settled. Banque de France printed this for the Indochina subsidiary, which was standard practice; the metropolitan printing house handled nearly all BIC paper through this period.
Dupuis's engraved work was well regarded in French numismatic circles — he was also responsible for medal and coin designs for the Third Republic. Léveillé's intaglio work on this note reflects the same technical standards applied to domestic French issues of the same decade.