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20 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905-1907 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Piastres (20 ICFP) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Vertical format reverse printed entirely in Chinese script, arranged in a symmetrical panel design with guilloche-bordered rectangular and diagonal corner cartouches framing a central circular medallion. The vertical columns of Chinese characters denote the issuing bank, denomination of twenty piastres, and conditions of payment, with corner ornamental panels bearing additional Chinese text and decorative crosshatch underprint throughout. |
| Reverse lettering | 貳拾元 東方匯理銀行 銀貳拾元 見字交銀 奉本國特諭 兌銅 |
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| Comments |
Banque de France took on production of the Indochina series in this period — an unusual arrangement, given that the BdF's primary mandate was domestic French currency. The involvement of Bramtot and Duval as designers, with Wullschleger handling the engraving, brought the full weight of metropolitan fine-line intaglio technique to a colonial instrument. Wullschleger's work for the BdF during this period was consistently among the most technically demanding in European banknote engraving.
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine had held its note-issuing privilege since 1875, renewed periodically under terms negotiated with the French state. By 1905 the piastre had already weathered two decades of silver price volatility that repeatedly disrupted its relationship to the franc.