Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
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!
500 Francs B.I.C. overprint
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1883-1949) |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | አምስት መቶ ፍራንክ ٥٠٠ ፭ ፻ خمسمائة فرنك L`ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PENAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÈS A PERPETUITE CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIÉ LES BILLETS DE BANQUE AUTORISÉE PAR LA LOI AINSI QUE CEUX QUI AURONT FAIT USAGE DE CES BILLETS CONTREFAITS OU FALSIFIÉS. CEUX QUE LES AURONT INTRODUIT SUR LE TERITTOIRE FRANÇAISE SERONT PUNIT DE LA MÊME PEINE G. FRAIPONT FC RITA SC (Translation: Five hundred francs. 500. Article 139 of the penal code punishes with forced labor for life those who have counterfeit or falsified banknotes authorized by law as well as those who have made use of these counterfeit or falsified notes. Those who had introduce them on French territory will be punished with the same punishment.) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Polynesian woman's head. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
During the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, Vichy authorities retained nominal control of the colonial banking apparatus, and the Banque de l'Indo-Chine continued issuing currency with plates printed in metropolitan France — a logistical absurdity that grew increasingly untenable as the war progressed. The "B.I.C." overprint on this note was applied to distinguish reissued stock from earlier circulation, a stopgap measure reflecting the bank's constrained position between Japanese military demands and collapsing supply chains from Paris.
Gaspérini's engraving work on the obverse is among the finer intaglio examples in the colonial French series. Marguerite Dreyfus, who signed reverse work under "Rita," contributed to several Banque de France commissions of the period.