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5 Piastres Vietnam Issue
| Issuer | Institut d'Émission des États du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêt-Nam |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 131 × 83 mm |
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| Obverse description | A central vignette of a banana plant and palm tree is set within an ornate guilloche border, with the denomination numeral '5' repeated in each corner medallion. The right half of the note is occupied by a large circular guilloche panel serving as the watermark window, flanked by intricate floral and scrollwork underprint in green and multicolor tints. The issuing institution title in Vietnamese appears in a rectangular panel at the top, with the denomination rendered in Khmer and Lao scripts in the lower centre field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | An intaglio portrait of Bảo Đại (Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, 1913–1997), former Emperor of Vietnam, occupies the left half of the note within a finely engraved oval vignette surrounded by a multicolor guilloche rosette border. The right half carries a large circular guilloche panel with scrollwork surround, and the four corners bear the denomination numeral '5' within ornamental medallions. The full institution name in French runs along the upper margin, with the denomination in French inscribed along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Institut d'Émission was a short-lived institution, established in 1952 to replace the Banque de l'Indochine as the currency authority for the three Associated States — a political concession to nominal independence that satisfied no one. By 1955, all three states had broken off to issue their own separate currencies, making this series among the last to carry a tri-state issuing mandate.
Bradbury Wilkinson handled the print run from their New Malden works, as they did for much of Britain's colonial and post-colonial currency work in this period. The 5 piastres denomination circulated at the low end of daily transactions in Vietnam, where inflation was already eroding smaller notes out of practical use.