Catalog
5 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909-1916 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#37 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE DÉCRETS DES 21 JANVIER 1875, 20 FÉVRIER 1888, 16 MAI 1900 & 3 AVRIL 1901 CINQ PIASTRES PAYABLES EN ESPECES AU PORTEUR SAIGON GEORGES DUVAL fec. L. RUFFE SC |
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| Reverse lettering | GEO. DUVAL fec. |
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| Comments |
Banque de l'Indo-Chine occupied an unusual institutional position: it was a private French colonial bank granted authority to issue currency across French Indochina, operating simultaneously as a commercial lender and a note-issuing body. The arrangement created persistent tension with both the colonial government and local merchants throughout the note's period of issue.
Printed at the Banque de France's workshops in Paris — the same facility producing French state currency — the plates were engraved by Ruffe, a craftsman whose work appears across multiple French colonial issues of the period. The seven-year date span reflects reissues rather than a single continuous print run.