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1 Franc thin border
| Issuer | Trésor Colonial de la Martinique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1884 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Imprimerie des Colonies, Saint-Pierre, Martinique |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COLONIE DE LA MARTINIQUE TRÉSOR COLONIAL Décret du 18 Août 1884 UN FRANC No Le Directeur de l'intérieur, Le Trésorier-payeur, La contre-valeur en espèces est déposée au Trésor. Imprimerie des Colonies (Translation: Colony of Martinique / Colonial Treasury / Decree of 18 August 1884 / One Franc / No. / The Director of the Interior, / The Treasurer-Paymaster, / The cash equivalent is deposited in the Treasury. / Printing House of the Colonies) |
| Reverse description | The reverse is entirely unprinted at centre, with a thin red decorative border of repetitive ornamental motifs enclosing a plain cream field. Small corner ornaments with the numeral 1 appear at each of the four corners inside the border, and no further text or vignette is present. |
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| Comments |
The Trésor Colonial de la Martinique operated as a quasi-fiscal instrument of French colonial administration rather than a conventional bank of issue — these small-denomination notes functioned primarily to address the chronic shortage of metallic currency in everyday retail transactions on the island. Printing locally at the Imprimerie des Colonies in Saint-Pierre gave the colonial treasury unusual operational independence for its era, though it also meant production quality varied considerably across the series.
The "thin border" designation distinguishes this Pick 3A from a closely related variant and is the kind of detail that matters enormously when attributing examples, since the two types circulated simultaneously.