Catalog
100 Francs Dakar, overprint
| Issuer | Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Two allegorical seated figures — a female figure at left and a male figure at right — frame a central vignette with elaborate guilloche work and ornamental architectural pilasters. Two oval portrait medallions appear in the upper centre field, with the denomination CENT FRANCS inscribed prominently between them, beneath the bank title. A handstamped DAKAR overprint with manuscript signatures and a text panel with legal notice appear in the lower centre portion of the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | DANIEL DUPUIS ET GEORGES DUVAL FEC. LEON ROUSSEAU . CS. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale series to which this note belongs was printed well before 1919 — the overprint placing this specimen at Dakar was applied to existing stock rather than produced as a fresh issue. The BAO operated across French West Africa as a note-issuing colonial bank, with Dakar serving as its principal seat, and the place-name overprint was used to assign liability to a specific branch in ways that mattered legally to the bank's charter structure.
Dupuis was a celebrated medallist at the Paris Mint; his involvement explains the quality of the intaglio work. Léveillé's engraving on the face is characteristically fine-line, and Rousseau's reverse work reflects the BAO's house standard for the period.