NEW BOOK: FRENCH INDO-CHINA BANKNOTES CATALOGUE

One of my first errands when I was recently back in Viet Nam was to go visit the shop of Nguyen Huynh The Vinh at 27 Nguyen Thi Dieu in District 3 on my first Saturday morning. He is only open on weekends. I am quite familiar with the shop because my friend, Nguyen Huong Quoc used to have it for his numismatic shop before he moved back to the USA with his family.

When I arrived, the shop was closed but there was no notice published about the closing. There were three other collectors sitting outside drinking coffee at a nearby street cart. I joined them and learned that Vinh frequently closed his shop with no notice. I enjoyed a little time with my friends and then went back to my serviced apartment at Sedona Suites.

I emailed Vinh and he replied that he had to go out on a buying trip and yes, he did not give anyone notice about closing his shop. I told him that was not a good way to treat his customers. Every Saturday I was in Ho Chi Minh City and had free time, I emailed Vinh about my visiting his shop and he told me he would be closed, so I never got to visit his shop.

At one of the Sunday morning collectors' meetings at the Fine Arts Museum café someone told me Vinh had just published a book about French colonial bank notes. I told that person to please acquire a copy for me. At the next meeting, he had several copies and sold one of them to me.

The book is titled Vietnam and French Indo-China Banknotes Catalogue, Section One, French Indo-China Banknotes Catalogue. It was printed by Nha Xuat Ban Tong Hop, in Ho Chi Minh City in 2018 with 265 pages. It is hardbound with very nice covers and thick glossy pages that we might call a coffee table book. It is in English and Vietnamese.

I noticed the notes are all in black lettered PMG slabs from the author's collection and his name has been photoshopped (?) on the label. He does not own most of the early notes so those pages do not have illustrations. So this book is just a representation of a collection and the information about each note appears to be from Kolsky & Muszynski and Pick but there is no Bibliography. Being a cataloger, I hate to be critical of another cataloger, but I emailed Vinh with several questions about the book but to date, I have not received a reply.

This book looks impressive and has excellent illustrations but there is no other reason to own it. It can be purchased from Mr. Nguyen Duc Viet, who can be contacted at viet@ueh.edu.vn. It is heavy (25 x 30cm) book so be prepared to be shocked by the cost of the postage. Mr. Viet is an old friend who has assisted me in printing some of my past catalogs. He is planning to sell many numismatic and philatelic books on his website.

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