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1 Piastre - Haïphong
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1903-1921 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Piastre (1880-1952) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 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 | Central intaglio vignette by Dupuis and Duval presents an allegorical composition in which a seated Oriental woman is accompanied by a standing figure of France holding a caduceus at left, rendered in a classical academic style. The upper border carries the bank title within a decorative guilloche frame, while the decree dates and authorisation legend are inscribed in the central text panel flanked by two separate value statements. The engraver's credit "B. LEVEILLE SC" and the designers' credit "DANIEL DUPUIS ET GEORGES DUVAL FEC." appear at the lower margin, with the branch overprint "HAI PHONG" in red at left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a large intaglio dragon vignette spanning the upper portion of the note, rendered in fine line engraving against a dense repetitive guilloche underprint border. Large Chinese characters in seal and regular script occupy the central field, with the penal code warning text printed in two columns flanking the characters. Corner values "$1" appear at all four corners within ornamental frames, and the designers' credit is placed at the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Haïphong branch designation on this note reflects the Banque de l'Indo-Chine's practice of issuing regionally overprinted or branch-specific notes across its network of offices in Indochina — Haïphong, Saigon, Hanoi, and beyond — a system that created dozens of distinct catalogue varieties from shared plate designs. The engraving is Léveillé's work after designs by Duval and Dupuis, a Parisian atelier arrangement common to French colonial currency of the period, with Dupuis best known as a medallist at the Monnaie de Paris.
The eighteen-year issue window spanning 1903 to 1921 suggests the type remained in production across both the pre-war colonial economy and the disrupted shipping and supply conditions of World War One, when re-ordering new plate designs from Paris was neither simple nor fast.