Catalog
5 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1926-1931 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The left half carries an elaborate vignette of a peacock in full plumage standing amid flowering branches, with butterflies scattered throughout the composition, all engraved in fine intaglio line work framed by a Chinese-style border. To the right, large Chinese characters give the denomination, flanked by the Vietnamese legend NAM BAC and Khmer numerals, with a circular guilloche motif and a legal warning text panel in French at lower right. The engraver credits ROQUE FEC. and RITA SC. appear at the lower margins. |
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| Protection description | Vietnamese male head |
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| Comments |
Clément Serveau designed the obverse, with engraving by Ernest Deloche — a pairing that also appeared on French colonial issues of the same period, the Banque de France lending both its facilities and its craftsmen to Indochinese currency production throughout the interwar years. The reverse engraving is attributed to Marguerite Dreyfus, known professionally as Rita, one of the few women working in that trade at the time.
The note circulated across French Indochina during a period of relative monetary stability, before the Depression-era pressures forced significant policy changes in the early 1930s. Two signature combinations place issued examples across roughly five years of production.