The đồng (銅) was the currency of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) from 1953 to May 2, 1978. It was subdivided into 100 xu, also written su.

History of South vietnam banknotes

In 1953, the Vietnam branch of the Institut d'Emission des Etats du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam issued notes dual denominated in piastre and đồng. At the same time, the two other branches of the Bank made similar issues with the riel in Cambodia and the kip in Laos. The đồng circulated in those parts of Vietnam not under the control of the Communist forces, which by 1954 coincided with South Vietnam. Coins denominated in su were also introduced in 1953. In 1955, a truly independent issue of đồng banknotes was produced by the National Bank of Vietnam.

In 1953, notes (dated 1952) were introduced by the Institut d'Emission des Etats du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 100 and 200 đồng. On 22 September 1955, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs announced that notes from the Bank of Indochina and the Institut d’Emission issues for Cambodia and Laos would be exchanged for Institut d’Emission issues for Vietnam starting 30 September until 7 November. The Institut issues for Cambodia and Laos ceased to be legal tender on 7 October, and all Bank of Indochina notes lost their legal tender status on 31 October following the 15 October introduction of the first notes from the National Bank of Vietnam. Subsequently, the Ngân-Hàng Quốc-Gia Việt-Nam (National Bank of Vietnam) took over the issuance of paper money, introducing 2 and 500 đồng notes in 1955 and 20 and 50 đồng in 1956. Between 1964 and 1968, notes below 50 đồng were replaced by coins. In 1971, 1000 đồng notes were introduced. Due to steady inflation, 5000 and 10,000 đồng notes were printed in 1975 but not issued due to the communist victory.

Dates	Denominations
1952–1953	1, 5, 10, 100, 200 đồng
1955–1958	1, 5, 10, 20, 100, 200, 500 đồng
1955–1962	1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 200 đồng
1962–1966	1, 20, 50, 100, 500 đồng
1966	100, 200, 500 đồng
1969–1971	20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 đồng
1972	50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 đồng