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1 Franc
| Issuer | Trésor Colonial de la Martinique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1884 |
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| Engraver(s) | Louis Félix Beschrer |
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| Obverse description | Printed entirely in red, the obverse is enclosed within an elaborate intaglio border of tropical vegetation — sugar cane, palm trees, and climbing vines — with small landscape vignettes at the lower corners. The denomination UN FRANC appears in large bold letterpress type at centre, beneath the colonial authority inscriptions COLONIE DE LA MARTINIQUE and TRÉSOR COLONIAL and the decree date of 18 August 1884, with two manuscript signature lines for the Directeur de l'Intérieur and the Trésorier-Payeur flanking a handwritten serial number. The designer's and engraver's credits (CLAVERIE INV. and BESCHRER SC.) together with the printer's imprint appear in the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COLONIE DE LA MARTINIQUE TRÉSOR COLONIAL (Décret du 18 Août 1884) UN FRANC La contre-valeur en espèces est déposée au Trésor. CLAVERIE . INV. PARIS. - Imp. Ve Éthiou Pérou. BESCHRER. SC. (Translation: Colony of Martinique Colonial Treasury (Decree August 18, 1884) One Franc The cash equivalent is deposited in the Treasury.) |
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| Comments |
The Trésor Colonial de la Martinique issued this note under a broader French colonial policy of providing small-denomination paper currency to Caribbean territories where metallic coin was chronically scarce — hoarded, exported, or simply absent from daily trade. The 1884 series was printed in Paris by Imprimerie Veuve Éthiou Pérou, a firm that handled colonial printing work across French overseas possessions during this period.
Beschrer's engraving work is fine for the denomination — colonial small-change notes rarely received this level of craft attention. Pick 2 is the scarcer of the two denominations in the 1884 Trésor Colonial series, and surviving examples with clean folds are uncommon given the note's obvious daily-use purpose in a tropical, humid environment.