Catalog
50 Dong
| Issuer | Ngân hàng Quốc gia Việt Nam (National Bank of Vietnam) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
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| Printer | Thomas De La Rue & Company, London |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in green tones with a portrait vignette of Hồ Chí Minh at left center, rendered in fine intaglio style against a decorative guilloche underprint. The denomination numeral '50' appears at lower left, while the written value 'NĂM MƯƠI ĐỒNG' is set in bold letterpress at right. The upper margin carries the state title 'VIỆT NAM DÂN CHỦ CỘNG HÒA' and the lower margin bears the legend 'GIẤY BẠC VIỆT NAM', flanked by stars; a small block of regulatory text appears at center. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown tones and centers on a large intaglio vignette of a marching group of workers, soldiers, and civilians, arms raised in solidarity, evoking socialist realist artistic style. The denomination '50' appears at upper left and upper right, with 'GIẤY BẠC VIỆT NAM' at lower left and 'NĂM MƯƠI ĐỒNG' at lower right. A line of Chinese characters runs along the very bottom margin, and signature titles with manuscript signatures appear in the upper portion flanking the central vignette. |
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| Comments |
The National Bank of Vietnam was established only in 1951, giving it barely two years of institutional existence before this note was printed. De La Rue's involvement reflected a broader pattern of newly independent or quasi-independent states contracting established European security printers while domestic infrastructure lagged — the Associated State of Vietnam under Bảo Đại was nominally sovereign but still deeply embedded in French financial arrangements when this series was commissioned.
The Indochina War was still active in 1953. Notes from this period often circulated unevenly across territory that changed hands repeatedly before the 1954 Geneva Accords partitioned the country.