Catalog
10 Francs / 2 Ariary
| Issuer | Government of Madagascar and Dependencies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Currency | Franc (1900-1928) |
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| Obverse description | A vignette at left centre presents a standing woman with a basket on her head, with a prickly pear plant to the right, rendered in a light intaglio print. The note is framed by an ornate blue guilloche border with Art Nouveau corner embellishments, and the vertical left margin carries the colony name in letterpress. The central text panel bears the denomination DIX FRANCS in large bold type above the emission guarantee text, dated Tananarive, 29 March 1917, with two manuscript signature panels below for the Directeur des Finances and the Trésorier-Payeur. |
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| Obverse lettering | République Française COLONIE DE MADAGASCAR ET DÉPENDANCES DIX FRANCS Emission de DIX MILLIONS de francs, garantie par les fonds de la Caisse de Réserve en Rentes sur l'État français, en obligations des emprunts de Madagascar et de l'Afrique occidentale française et en Bons du Trésor. (Décret du 17 septembre 1914) Tananarive, le 29 mars 1917 Le Directeur des Finances Le Trésorier-Payeur |
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| Comments |
Madagascar's first government-issued paper money dates to this 1917 series, produced under wartime conditions when metal coinage had effectively disappeared from local circulation — a problem common across French colonial territories during the First World War. The dual denomination pairing of francs and ariary reflects the parallel monetary reality on the island, where the ariary (worth 5 francs in this period) remained the unit most Malagasy actually used in daily trade.
These were emergency issues, printed simply and cheaply. Surviving examples typically show heavy wear, consistent with the intensive local circulation they saw before more formal colonial banknote infrastructure was established in the 1920s.