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5 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909-1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Piastres (5 ICFP) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a large intaglio dragon vignette at left, rendered in fine line engraving with sinuous coils filling much of the composition, flanked by a second dragon along the right border. Chinese characters appear in the central field and within a rectangular cartouche at right, with the bank's name in Chinese script repeated in horizontal bands across the upper and lower margins. The designer's credit 'GEO. DUVAL fec.' is printed at the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | GEO. DUVAL fec. |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
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| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Banque de l'Indo-Chine occupied an unusual institutional position: it was a private French colonial bank granted authority to issue currency across French Indochina, operating simultaneously as a commercial lender and a note-issuing body. The arrangement created persistent tension with both the colonial government and local merchants throughout the note's period of issue.
Printed at the Banque de France's workshops in Paris — the same facility producing French state currency — the plates were engraved by Ruffe, a craftsman whose work appears across multiple French colonial issues of the period. The seven-year date span reflects reissues rather than a single continuous print run.