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5 Piastres - Saigon
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905-1907 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Piastres (5 ICFP) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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 shows a reclining Neptune figure at lower left, holding a trident and accompanied by a sea creature, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. A large unprinted circular guilloche panel occupies the upper left, flanked by the denomination CINQ PIASTRES repeated twice in large letterpress text with payability clause below each. Three manuscript signatures appear at the foot of the note above the serial number and prefix. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a monochrome brown-ochre tone, with elaborate dragon vignettes flanking both the left and right margins, rendered in intricate intaglio line work. Two central oval guilloche panels are surrounded by dense anti-counterfeiting text in French citing Articles 139 of the Code Pénal, with repeating BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE underprint text across the lower band. Chinese characters appear in large format at upper left and centre, with additional Chinese script panels interspersed throughout the design. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine's Paris-printed notes occupied an unusual position: a French colonial institution issuing currency with legal tender status across territories where the Mexican dollar and local ticals still competed for everyday transactions. The 5 Piastres denomination was practical street money, not a reserve note, which means genuine circulated survivors are typically well-worn — the tropics were not kind to paper, and Saigon's humidity accelerated deterioration in ways that European-stored examples largely avoided.
Bramtot and Duval were established figures in the Banque de France's stable of decorative designers, and Wullschleger's engraving work appears across multiple colonial issues of the period. The plate origin is unambiguously Paris — confirmed by the printer credit, not merely inferred from the artistic signatures.