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5 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1910-1915 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Léon Henri Ruffe |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in green intaglio on a fine guilloche underprint, with a vignette at left centre showing ships at harbour. Floral sprays occupy the lower centre, while a large numeral '5' appears within an ornate cartouche at right. The border is framed by elaborate scroll and dragon-tail motifs, with the bank title across the top, denomination in large serif lettering across the centre, and the issuing place 'HAÏPHONG' below, with three manuscript signature lines near the bottom. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown on plain paper, dominated by a large coiling dragon vignette that curves around the left and centre of the note in a circular composition. Chinese and Vietnamese script characters appear in two registers at right, with the bank name repeated in a text band along the upper and lower borders. A secondary ornate cartouche with dragon motifs occupies the right margin. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine, though a private colonial institution chartered in Paris, held monopoly rights over note issuance across French Indochina — a commercial privilege that generated considerable political friction back in France throughout the early 1900s. This small-denomination note was printed by the Banque de France itself, an unusual arrangement that blurred the line between state and colonial private banking infrastructure more than the issuer would perhaps have liked acknowledged.
Ruffe was a skilled intaglio engraver whose work appears on several colonial issues of this period. The Duval-Ruffe pairing was not uncommon for French colonial printings of the era, though P#16 represents one of their more modest commissions in terms of denomination.