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500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L`INDO-CHINE CINQ CENT FRANCS L`ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PENAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÈS CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIÉ LES BILLETS DE BANQUE AUTORISÉE PAR LA LOI DJIBOUTI LE PRESIDENT LE DIRECTEUR GENERAL 500 GOVERNMENT PRINTER, PALESTINE (Translation: Bank of Indochina. Five hundred francs. Article 139 of the penal code punishes with forced labor those who have counterfeited or falsified banknotes authorized by law. Djibouti. The President. The General Director.) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | BANQUE DE L`INDO-CHINE DJIBOUTI 500 EMIL M PIKOVSKY LTD JERUSALEM (Translation: Bank of Indochina. Djibouti.) |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine's 500 Francs of 1945 is one of the more geographically improbable notes in the entire French colonial series. With France occupied and the Pacific theater cutting off normal supply chains, the bank was forced to source emergency printing from Emil M. Pikovsky Ltd in Jerusalem — then still under British Mandatory Palestine. The resulting notes are technically and aesthetically rough by pre-war Indochina standards, a direct consequence of the limited facilities available.
Pikovsky was primarily a commercial printer, not a specialist security house. The absence of intaglio work is conspicuous.