Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Piastres - Saigon
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indo-Chine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905-1907 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Central vignette shows a reclining Neptune figure at lower left, holding a trident and accompanied by a sea creature, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. A large unprinted circular guilloche panel occupies the upper left, flanked by the denomination CINQ PIASTRES repeated twice in large letterpress text with payability clause below each. Three manuscript signatures appear at the foot of the note above the serial number and prefix. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | DÉCRETS DES 21 JANVIER 1875, 20 FÉVRIER 1888, 16 MAI 1900 & 3 AVRIL 1901 BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE SAIGON CINQ PIASTRES PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES AU PORTEUR |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Banque de l'Indo-Chine's Paris-printed notes occupied an unusual position: a French colonial institution issuing currency with legal tender status across territories where the Mexican dollar and local ticals still competed for everyday transactions. The 5 Piastres denomination was practical street money, not a reserve note, which means genuine circulated survivors are typically well-worn — the tropics were not kind to paper, and Saigon's humidity accelerated deterioration in ways that European-stored examples largely avoided.
Bramtot and Duval were established figures in the Banque de France's stable of decorative designers, and Wullschleger's engraving work appears across multiple colonial issues of the period. The plate origin is unambiguously Paris — confirmed by the printer credit, not merely inferred from the artistic signatures.