Regulations on the Production of Indochinese Silver Coins According to Denominations

On August 3, 1945, to compensate for the shortage of money, the French Government decided to allow the Bank of Indochina to issue a type of paper money with a unit value of up to $500. The new paper money system was printed at the IDEO printing factory in Hanoi (Imprimerie De l'Extrême Orient) and was also a nominal gold coin: " One-dollar paper " printed with a picture of a sailboat, " Five-dollar paper " printed with a picture of Nghinh Luong Dinh (Hue), " One-hundred-dollar paper " with a market scene and " Five-hundred-dollar paper " with 2 types of similar pictures but different colors of green dragon - yellow dragon, poor material.

Regarding copper coins, in 1931, the bank issued and circulated a new type of silver coin, small and light, the front no longer had a haloed lady but instead a lady wearing a hat and the back no longer had weight and tone [67].

By 1936, a type of copper coin was born, the 50 cent coin (one cent can be exchanged for two of these coins) [66], a very pretty round coin with a hole in the middle, the surface has the symbol of France, the word Républic Française (French Republic) and on the back, it was mass-produced for common use in French colonies overseas such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Madagascar, Djibouti..., with no Vietnamese features. The birth of the 50 cent coin contributed to solving the shortage of small change and it became very convenient for housewives and children to pay (because they could easily buy snacks). By 1937, the bank issued and put the 2 cent coin into circulation [114].

The half-cent coin was minted every year and had a date on the coin from 1935 to 1940. Like other coins, although it was tiny, it was made of red copper, so merchants loved it and tried to collect it to melt it down to produce jewelry and utensils. Therefore, from 1939 to 1941, the Indochina Bank issued nickel and lead coins. There were 3 types of coins: one dime, two dimes, and five dimes. The front still depicted Lady Marianne, the symbol of France, wearing a hat, and the back was engraved with a bundle of rice with many ripe grains [83].

Also in this year, the bank issued lead quarters and cents. These two coins were issued from 1940 to 1943 and were withdrawn. After reoccupying Vietnam in particular and Indochina in general, France issued dimes and nickels to cover war expenses.

Thus, in the third round of money issuance, the French colonialists used the issuance tool to compensate for the shortage in the mother country and to plunder every last penny from the people of the colonies, including Vietnam. The money at this time was just a piece of paper, nothing more, nothing less, only helping the French colonialists spend in the colonies and it only had value in the colonies.

It can be said that the establishment and operation of the Bank of Indochina in Vietnam in particular and Indochina in general was to serve the policy of colonial exploitation and exploitation. The fact that France printed money indiscriminately to cover the war in Indochina showed that the monopoly of the Bank of Indochina in issuing money demonstrated absolute power in the fields of finance and currency in Indochina. And France succeeded in establishing a centralized and unique banking system around the " Bank of Indochina ".

However, we also see the positive points of the Bank of Indochina from the perspective of the history of money - banking through three times of issuing money, and comparing with historical events shows that: in the past, the majority of Vietnamese people were farmers with the habit of estimating all product values ​​in " rice " (converted to rice) and buying, selling, paying, and exchanging through this connection. Therefore, the establishment and operation of the Bank of Indochina by the French gradually made the Vietnamese people familiar with thinking, doing business, exchanging, and buying and selling according to the thinking of the language of " money ", which is marked as a historical event for the beginning of economic development, and the approach to Western civilization of the Vietnamese people.

2.2.2. Currencies of countries circulating in Vietnam

Before the 18th century, due to the development of foreign trade activities, in addition to the coins minted and issued by our country, there were also coins from countries that came to trade with our country. These coins were used by our ancestors because they had payment functions and had value in the market at that time. It can be said that these coins were closely associated with the ups and downs of Vietnamese history, and the history of currency was no exception.

During the Trinh - Nguyen conflict, a number of foreign merchant ships such as Portuguese, Indian, and Dutch came to Pho Hien and Hoi An.

An trade. Along with the merchant ships, the currencies of other countries were also brought to our country during the trade exchange process such as: Dutch silver coins (Holland, Netherland), Hong Kong dollars, US dollars with the image of an American woman sitting holding a bouquet of cotton used in trade transactions. Especially the Mexican coin or also known as the Mexican Peso, at that time was brought everywhere by the seafarers and the Mexican Peso was favored by our people so it was circulated more widely than the currencies of other countries. And at that time, our ancestors did not know the origin of the currencies from which country in the world, so they could only look at the shape of the coins and call them, such as the Mexican Peso, the back of the coin has the image of an eagle, so our ancestors called it the eagle coin, the stork coin. And the name of the stork coin, the eagle coin has become deeply rooted in folklore through the following folk song:

"Marry me with the silver of a stork,

Not a date to talk and flirt"

And for a long time, the Mexican Peso has functioned as international money right on our country's territory without any diplomatic agreement, which is truly a unique event. This coin was minted in Mexico since Spain invaded Mexico (a country with many silver mines). It is a silver coin, weighing 27 grams, with a silver ratio of 900/1000. It was widely circulated in the 17th century in all countries on both sides of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and it followed the footsteps of sailors to all parts of the world. It is a purely metal coin, meaning that its value is its actual metal value [35; p.356]. Therefore, it is very valuable in international payments, 1 silver coin can be exchanged for 600 copper coins and when small silver coins were scarce in payments and exchanges, our people at that time chopped this silver coin into two or four for easier spending.

When France invaded Vietnam, the Mexican Peso was declared by Admiral Bonard - commander of the French army to be officially circulated throughout the territory of Cochinchina from April 10, 1862 and it was valid until June 3, 1903 (while at that time the National Bank of Vietnam had no official circulation).

The Indochina Bank established and issued copper coins as well as paper money and circulated them in Vietnam.

The success of the August Revolution led to the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Faced with financial difficulties in 1946, the new Government issued money to solve financial difficulties and our people often called it Uncle Ho money. At that time, Uncle Ho money was used in parallel with the Indochinese silver issued by the Indochina Bank.

After September 23, 1945, the French army, with the help of the British, returned to attack Saigon, then spread out to all the countries of Indochina. At that time, the Bank of Indochina was no longer in operation. In order to have money to supply the Indochina budget and replace the banknotes of the previous Bank of Indochina, in 1951, France established an institute to issue common banknotes for all three countries of Vietnam - Cambodia - Laos called the Institut d'Emission des Etats du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viet-Nam. In 1952 and 1953, the "kip" of Laos (1952), the "riel" of Cambodia (1953), and the Vietnamese National Dong (1953) were issued and used in parallel with the old silver coins. Paper money had two forms: one common for all three countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; the other was specific to each country. Metal coins were minted separately for each country from the beginning. The exchange rate of 1 đồng = 10 francs was restored in 1953. Dual denomination banknotes continued to circulate until 1955 in the Republic of Vietnam and Cambodia, and until 1957 in Laos.

Portraits of Head of State Bao Dai, King Sihanouk, and King Sisavang Vong appear on the $1 bill. The name piastre was used alongside the native names: riel for Cambodia, kip for Laos, and dong for the State of Vietnam. In Cambodia, notes were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 100, and 200 dong/riel. In Laos, notes were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, and 100 dong/kip. In Vietnam, notes were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 100, and 200 dong/dong. This currency was withdrawn in 1954, making way for the currencies of the independent countries on the Indochina peninsula.