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1 Franc
| Issuer | Government of Madagascar and Dependencies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | POSTES R F MADAGASCAR ET DÉPENDANCES 1f. |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed on plain cardboard and bears a central intaglio-style vignette of a zebu bull standing in profile facing left, rendered in dark brown ink. The word 'Iraimbilanja' appears vertically along the left margin, and '1 franc' is printed vertically along the right margin. |
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| Comments |
Madagascar's wartime cardboard fractional notes of 1916 were a direct response to acute coin shortages that affected French colonial territories across the Indian Ocean during the First World War. Metal was being redirected toward the war effort, and small-denomination coinage effectively vanished from local circulation. The colonial administration's answer was to print provisional notes on cardboard — an unglamorous but practical stopgap that was never intended to last.
The cardboard substrate makes survivors fragile. These notes deteriorate readily at the corners and along folds, and examples without significant wear are genuinely uncommon.