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20 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1951-1963 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 130 × 70 mm |
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| Obverse description | A three-quarter left-facing male bust in classical drapery occupies the left portion of the note, engraved in intaglio by Régnier after Munier's design. A secondary vignette in the centre background renders a pastoral scene with standing figures, while a smaller classical female figure appears to the right. The issuing authority's name and territorial designation are printed in two-colour letterpress at upper centre, with the denomination in large numerals at upper right and the word NOUMEA in a vertical guilloche panel along the left margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Variants | P#8a - signature titles: "Président & Vice-Président Directeur Général" P#8b - signature titles: "Président & Directeur Général" |
| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indochine's 20 Francs series straddles one of the most turbulent currency transitions in colonial monetary history. By 1951, French Indochina had already fractured politically — Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were each moving toward separate monetary arrangements — yet the Banque de l'Indochine continued issuing unified franc-denominated notes across the territory until the piastre's final abolition and the institution's eventual replacement by successor central banks in the mid-1950s.
The note was engraved at the Banque de France's printing works in Paris, a facility that handled much of France's colonial currency output. Régnier and Chapon were both staff engravers there, working on separate plates for obverse and reverse — a standard division of labor for the atelier, though Pierre Munier's design credit is less commonly documented for this specific series.