5 Ðồng

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam began issuing its own currency — the đồng — in late 1945, shortly after Ho Chi Minh's declaration of independence, explicitly to displace the Indochinese piastre and break the financial grip of the Banque de l'Indochine. By 1949–1950, the DRV was conducting its war against French forces from the Việt Bắc base areas in the northern highlands, and notes of this period were printed under genuinely difficult conditions, without access to sophisticated printing infrastructure.

Circulation was largely confined to Việt Minh-controlled territory. French-held zones refused the currency entirely, making these notes instruments of political as much as economic exchange.