500 Ðồng

The National Bank of Vietnam was established by the State of Vietnam under Bảo Đại in January 1952, but this note is dated 1951 — reflecting the practice of backdating the first series to the bank's legislative authorization rather than its operational date. France retained direct involvement through the Banque de France as printer, an arrangement that suited neither Vietnamese nationalists nor the Việt Minh, both of whom viewed the currency as evidence of continued French financial control dressed in nominally independent clothing.

The Banque de France's intaglio work on this series is among the finer printing produced for any Southeast Asian issuer of the period.