Catalog
50 Att / 5 Hào / 5 Chiao
| Issuer | Pathet Lao (Free Lao Movement) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945-1946 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 93 × 66 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 hào 毛五 |
| Reverse description | The reverse is composed entirely of horizontal lines of Lao script text arranged across the full surface of the note, with no vignette, guilloche, or ornamental elements of any kind. This austere, text-only layout reflects the emergency nature of the Free Lao provisional currency series of 1945–1946, produced under wartime conditions without access to conventional banknote printing facilities. |
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| Comments |
The Pathet Lao movement issued this note during one of the most chaotic transitional moments in mainland Southeast Asia — the months immediately following Japan's surrender, before French authority was meaningfully reasserted. These were not notes backed by a functioning central bank; they were political instruments, printed to assert administrative existence in territories the movement claimed to govern ahead of any negotiated settlement.
The trilingual denomination — Lao, Vietnamese, and Chinese — reflects the ethnic patchwork of the regions along the Mekong where these circulated, and the practical reality that Viet Minh networks were deeply entwined with early Lao resistance logistics.
Surviving examples are genuinely rare. The movement had no secure printing infrastructure, and most notes from this period were lost to warfare, flooding, or deliberate destruction when French forces reclaimed territory in 1946.