Catalog
50 Rupees
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Rupees |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 50 ۵۰ LA LOI PUNIT PE CONTREFACTEUR Décrets de 21 Janvier 1875, 20 Féevrier 1888, 16 Mai 1900 & 3 Avril 1901. BANQUE DE L'INDOCHINE Pondichéry, le 17 Juin 1915. இந்து-சீனத்து பாங்க் پچاس روپی അമ്പത ഉറുപ്പിക FIFTY RUPEES to be paid on demand to bearer ஐம்பது ரூபாய்கள் యాభై రూపాయలు CINQUANTE ROUPIES payables en espéces au porteur Le Caissier de la Succursale, Un Administrateur, L'Admr- Directeur ௫௰ A. BRAMTOT ET G DUVAL FEC. CH - WULLSCHLEGER SC. (Translation: 50. The law punishes the forger. Decrees of January 21, 1875, February 20, 1888, May 16, 1900 and April 3, 1901. Bank of Indochina. Puducherry June 17, 1915. Bank of Indochina. Fifty rupees to be paid on demand to bearer. The branch cashier, an administrator, the administrator director. 50.) |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in blue with a red-text overlay, centered on a large circular guilloche rosette set within a fine guilloche underprint. The background is composed of a dense repetitive pattern formed by the issuer name, while corner cartouches carry the value numerals and script abbreviations for rupee in Tamil and Urdu. Denomination and promise-to-pay legends are rendered entirely in Tamil, Urdu, and Telugu scripts arranged around the central rosette. |
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| Comments |
Banque de l'Indochine issued this note under a concession from the French government that had been in place since 1875, giving it exclusive rights to print currency across French Indochina, India, and the Pacific territories simultaneously — an extraordinary commercial banking monopoly dressed up as colonial monetary infrastructure. The 50 Rupees denomination places it firmly in the Indian Ocean circuits: Pondicherry and the other French Indian comptoirs, not mainland Indochina, where the piastre ran.
Bradtot and Duval's design work was executed by Wullschleger at the Atelier de Fabrication des Billets de la Banque de France — the same engraving house responsible for much of France's own wartime note production during this period, which may partly explain why the 1915 issues sometimes show slightly rushed intaglio registration.