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500 Dong
| Issuer | Ngân hàng Quốc gia Việt Nam (National Bank of Vietnam) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1949 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Ðồng |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | At left, a vignette of two soldiers — one male and one female — standing in a heroic pose with a raised torch, rendered in intaglio style. At right, a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh within a guilloche border, with the large numeral 500 below the central text block. The heading NĂM TRĂM ĐỒNG appears across the upper portion, with two signature lines for Bộ Trưởng Bộ Tài Chính and Tổng Giám Đốc Ngân Khố Quốc Gia printed centrally, flanked by repeated numerals 500 along the side margins. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#31a - without watermark P#31b - watermark: circle with star |
| Comments |
The National Bank of Vietnam was established in May 1951, which makes a note bearing a 1949 date immediately worth scrutinizing. The Ngân hàng Quốc gia Việt Nam did not yet exist in 1949 — the issuing authority at that time was the Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa's financial apparatus operating under wartime conditions against French forces. Whether the 1949 date reflects a printing lag, a backdated authorization, or a catalog misattribution is a question the Pick reference alone cannot resolve.
The engraver credit "Tong Giam Doc" is actually a Vietnamese administrative title — Tổng Giám Đốc, meaning Director General — not a personal name. It appears on early Democratic Republic of Vietnam notes as an authority signature rather than a craftsman's mark, a detail that trips up Western catalogers routinely.