Catalog
0,10 Franc
| Issuer | Government of Madagascar and Dependencies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Composition | Cardboard |
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| Obverse description | The obverse reproduces the design of the Madagascar 10 centimes postal stamp (Zebu and Travel type), printed in rose-carmine and olive-grey. A central vignette shows a group of figures carrying a sedan chair (filanzane) through a landscape, with a town visible in the background. The inscription POSTES appears at the top flanked by the letters R and F, the denomination 10c. is set within a square at lower left, and MADAGASCAR ET DÉPENDANCES runs along the bottom margin within a decorative guilloche border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | POSTES R F 10c. MADAGASCAR ET DÉPENDANCES |
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| Comments |
Madagascar's wartime small-change shortage of 1916 drove the colonial administration to issue cardboard fractional notes — a pragmatic stopgap when metal coinage was diverted toward the French war effort. These tiny cardboard pieces circulated as coin substitutes across the island and its dependencies, handled constantly in everyday transactions. The material was poorly suited to the tropics: humidity, heat, and heavy use degraded these pieces rapidly, and survivors in any reasonable condition are genuinely uncommon.
The 0,10 Franc denomination is the smallest in the P#29-series emergency issue.