1 Piastre

The Banque de l'Indochine's late-issue 1 Piastre series appeared at precisely the moment the piastre's value had become politically explosive. In 1946, the French government had fixed the official exchange rate at 17 piastres to the franc — a wildly artificial rate that made the piastre worth far more on paper than in practice, and which fueled a massive currency trafficking racket involving military procurement vouchers, black market operators, and, notoriously, figures connected to the French Expeditionary Corps itself.

The rate was finally abolished in 1953, after this note was already in circulation. Printed by the Banque de France under Barrière's design direction, the note was produced in Paris for a monetary zone that was actively disintegrating around it.