Little-known stories about Vietnam's first money printing factory

Initially, these first coins were not beautiful, the quality of the printed paper was not good, but our people still enthusiastically responded, because this was a banknote representing independence, freedom, national sovereignty and on this coin was printed the image of President Ho Chi Minh.

The first currency of independent Vietnam was born and became a weapon to fight on the economic, financial and monetary fronts, eliminating the French colonial Indochina currency from our country.

This place also preserves an oil painting sketching the Green Buffalo money model drawn by artist Nguyen Huyen. To have a money model with vivid and practical images, reflecting the Party's and Government's guidelines, suitable for the development of the revolution and resistance, the artists, including artist Nguyen Huyen - who directly made the drawing, had to work tirelessly, forgetting about noon and night, sometimes going to construction sites, factories, sometimes going to the countryside to have the most vivid images to put in the drawing.

The front of the banknote depicts Uncle Ho, next to him are rice stalks and farmers working hard in the blurred background, expressing the desire for a free, prosperous, and happy life...

The back of the bill shows an image of a fat buffalo (meaning the buffalo is the capital of the farmer's career), on the right is a corn plant growing corn and farmers are trying to reclaim land, increase production to fight against one of the three enemies at that time, "hunger"...

On November 31, 1946, the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam held its second session and decided to issue Vietnamese currency and organize the recall and exchange of Indochinese currency nationwide with denominations of 1 dong, 5 dong, 10 dong, 20 dong, 50 dong, 100 dong, and then 200 dong and 500 dong.

At the Chi Ne printing factory, workers work mainly from 4 pm to 3 am the next morning.

Mr. Do Dinh Thien's house, where Uncle Ho stayed on February 19, 1947.

Currently, the house is divided into 6 rooms, each room displays pictures of Mr. Do Dinh Thien's family, the process of operation and Certificate of Merit awarded by the State as well as pictures of the staff of the money printing factory.

Uncle Ho's desk at Mr. Do Dinh Thien's house.

In 2007, the first money printing factory in Vietnam was ranked as a national relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. With its historical marks and special significance, on February 14, 2014, the historical relic site of the Money Printing Factory at Chi Ne Plantation (1946-1947) was awarded the Vietnam Guinness Record as the first money printing factory.

The Memorial House for Meritorious People and Officials and Workers of the Printing Factory at Chi Ne Plantation was inaugurated and put into operation in May 2019.

Inside, the central room has a statue of Uncle Ho.