Catalog
5 Piastres - Saigon
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905-1907 |
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| Printer | Banque de France, France |
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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 |
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| Reverse lettering | A. BRAMTOT ET G. DUVAL FEC. CH. WULLSCHLEGER SC. |
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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.