Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | National Bank of Vietnam |
|---|---|
| Year | 1966 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Đồng |
| 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 |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Intaglio vignette of a traditional Vietnamese junk under full sail navigating a rocky coastal bay, accompanied by a smaller rowing vessel in the foreground, set against dramatic limestone karst outcroppings characteristic of Ha Long Bay. The denomination numeral 500 appears at lower left and lower right within guilloche cartouches, with the bank title across the top and the statutory counterfeiting warning in small letterpress text along the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | NGÂN-HÀNG QUỐC-GIA VIỆT-NAM NĂM TRĂM ĐỒNG 500 HÌNH LUẬT PHẠT KHỔ-SAI NHỮNG KẺ NÀO GIẢ-MẠO GIẤY BẠC DO NGÂN-HÀNG QUỐC-GIA VIỆT-NAM PHÁT RA. (Translation: NATIONAL BANK OF VIETNAM FIVE HUNDRED ĐỒNG 500 CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCES ONE TO PENAL LABOUR FOR COUNTERFEITING PAPER MONEY ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL BANK OF VIETNAM) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
By 1966, South Vietnam's currency was under severe inflationary pressure — the United States military buildup had flooded the local economy with dollars, driving prices sharply upward and pushing demand for higher denominations. The 500 Đồng was a direct response to that devaluation creep, issued as the piaster's purchasing power collapsed faster than the printing schedule could accommodate.
Thomas De La Rue handled production throughout the National Bank of Vietnam's higher-denomination series during this period. The watermark security on this note was modest relative to the counterfeiting threat the South Vietnamese government actually faced — North Vietnamese forgery operations were active and well-documented by the mid-1960s.