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!
500 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque de l'Indochine |
|---|---|
| Year | 1951 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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) | Obverse: Marguerite Dreyfus (Rita), Jules Piel Reverse: Georges Hourriez |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central intaglio vignette of a classically draped woman, laureate-crowned, resting her hand on a terrestrial globe beside a younger companion similarly wreathed in laurel; the pair are framed by ornate guilloche pilasters. Denomination numeral 500 appears in red at upper left and upper right corners, with the bank title BANQUE DE L'INDOCHINE across the top panel. Signature facsimiles of the Président and Directeur Général Adjoint appear at lower left, with engravers' credits SÉB. LAURENT FEC. and RITA - J. PIEL SC. at the lower margins. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The same classical vignette of the woman and her young laureate companion is rendered in a lighter intaglio palette, now set against a background of two large seated elephants flanking a stylised architectural gateway. Multilingual denomination inscriptions appear at right in Chinese characters (伍佰元) alongside Vietnamese (GIẤY NĂM TRĂM ĐỒNG), Khmer, and Lao scripts. Engravers' credits SÉB. LAURENT FEC. and HOURRIEZ SC. are present at the lower margins. |
| 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 |
By 1951, Banque de France was printing these high-denomination notes for a colonial currency system already under severe strain — the First Indochina War was entering its fifth year, and French authority over the region was visibly eroding. The 500 Piastres was a significant sum in daily terms, making this primarily a commercial and institutional instrument rather than anything ordinary Indochinese residents handled with regularity.
The engraving credits are unusually well-documented for a colonial issue. Marguerite Dreyfus, who signed professionally as "Rita," was one of the few women working at that level in Banque de France's engraving workshops during the postwar period.