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5 Piastres Green
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1945 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Piastres (5 ICFP) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of an ornate laurel and oak wreath encircling the numeral '5' and the denomination inscription 'CINQ PIASTRES' on a decorative panel, set against a fine guilloche underprint in green. The numeral '5' appears in corner cartouches alongside Chinese characters at upper right and Khmer script at left. A legal warning cartouche in French is printed at the lower centre, with signature lines for L'Inspecteur Général and Le Directeur de la Succursale de Saïgon flanking the central vignette. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | GIẤY NĂM ĐỒNG VÀNG 東萬匯理銀行 PHAM-NGOC-KHUÊ IDEO. HANOI |
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| Comments |
Banque de l'Indochine's wartime printing operation in Hanoi was a direct consequence of the Japanese occupation severing normal supply lines to metropolitan France. The Imprimerie d'Extrême-Orient, already established as a commercial and government printer in the city, was pressed into currency production under conditions of severe material shortages — visible in the thinner, less consistent paper stock that characterizes notes from this period.
Phạm Ngọc Khuê's involvement as designer is notable: a Vietnamese artist working under French colonial authority, producing currency for a bank effectively operating under Japanese military oversight. The political layering behind a single note's production is rarely this compressed.