Catalog
5 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1932-1949 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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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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| Protection type | Watermark |
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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.