5000 Đồng (Not Issued)

This note was designed and printed by Thomas De La Rue in London for the National Bank of Vietnam but never formally issued — it was rendered obsolete before distribution by the fall of Saigon in April 1975 and the subsequent reunification process that made the southern dong itself a transitional currency with a short, engineered lifespan. The new authorities introduced replacement notes in 1975 and then again in 1978, systematically retiring all pre-unification southern issues.

Unissued De La Rue stock of this type reached the market largely through collector channels rather than through any official release, which is why surviving examples typically show no handling wear but may exhibit storage toning along sheet fold lines common to warehouse-held remainder stock.