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1 Franc
| Issuer | Établissements Français Libres de l'Océanie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1919-1944) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BON DE CAISSE DES ÉTABLISSEMENTS FRANÇAIS LIBRES DE L'OCEANIE UN FRANC Arrêté Nº 300 A.G.F. du 7 avril 1942. PAR G. REBOUL-SALZE IMPRIMERIE JEAN C. FERRAND (Translation: Cash voucher of the Free French Establishments of Oceania One Franc Decree No. 300 A.G.F. of 7 April 1942. By G. Reboul-Salze, Imprimerie Jean C. Ferrand) |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black text only, consisting entirely of the legal guarantee and anti-counterfeiting notice in French, arranged in plain typographic letterpress style without pictorial vignette or decorative underprint. Some circulated examples bear an additional circular administrative stamp in black ink from the office of Vaitape, Île Bora-Bora, applied at the point of issue. |
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| Comments |
When France fell in June 1940, French Oceania — uniquely among France's Pacific territories — declared almost immediately for de Gaulle's Free French movement, making it one of the earliest colonial administrations to do so. The practical consequence was economic isolation: supply lines to metropolitan France severed, no access to Banque de l'Indochine stocks, and an urgent need for local currency. These emergency notes were printed by a commercial printshop in Papeete, which accounts for their distinctly modest production quality relative to any pre-war colonial issue.
Ferrand's press was not a security printer by any professional standard, and the notes reflect that — thin design vocabulary, limited anti-counterfeiting infrastructure. The designer Reboul-Salze worked within tight constraints of available materials and skills on the island.