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5 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1932-1949 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The central vignette presents an allegorical female figure representing the French Republic rendered with an orientalised physiognomy, helmeted and holding a spear, framed by laurel branches in intaglio engraving. The denomination CINQ PIASTRES is set in bold letterpress across the upper register, flanked by numeral 5 panels, with the bank title BANQUE DE L'INDOCHINE inscribed in the upper margin above a dense guilloche underprint. The engravers' credits SÉB. LAURENT FEC. and E. DELOCHE SC. appear in the lower margin. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse carries an intaglio vignette at left of an Apsara dancer in traditional Khmer pose, set alongside a view of one of the stone temple towers of Angkor Thom bearing the four faces of Avalokitesvara, evoking the cultural heritage of Cambodia. The Vietnamese legend GIẤY NĂM ĐỒNG VÀNG appears in the lower portion of the design within the guilloche border. The engravers' credits SÉB. LAURENT FEC. and E. DELOCHE SC. are present in the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Banque de l'Indochine's 5 Piastres series ran across a politically volatile stretch — from the Depression years through Japanese occupation and into the postwar French reconsolidation effort. The same note circulated under three radically different administrative realities without a design change, which is itself a small bureaucratic curiosity.
Deloche's engraving work for the Banque de France was meticulous even at this denomination, and the plate held up across the extended print run. Laurent had worked on multiple Indochine issues; this was not a one-off commission but part of a sustained relationship between the colonial bank and the Paris printers.
Pick #55 encompasses several distinct signature combinations, and attribution without confirmed signatories can be genuinely tricky.