Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
100 Francs Grand-Bassam
| Issuer | Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Frédéric Florian, Ernest-Théophile Florian |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | A large scenic vignette in red-brown intaglio fills the note, with an elephant and native figures beneath a broad-canopied tree at left, and a tall palm tree at right, flanking a central blank oval reserve. The bank title BANQUE DE L'AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE and the denomination CENT FRANCS appear in letterpress above the central field, with the payability clause below. A black letterpress overprint reading GRAND-BASSAM is applied across the centre, along with the date 15 Avril 1920 and two manuscript signatures. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in olive-green and features an elaborate geometric and arabesque framework composed of dense guilloche borders and interlocking decorative panels, with Arabic inscriptions throughout identifying the bank and the note's terms. A black letterpress overprint reading CÔTE D'IVOIRE is applied diagonally across the centre of the note. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale was a private colonial institution — not a state central bank — holding the note-issuing concession for French West Africa, and Grand-Bassam was the administrative capital of Côte d'Ivoire at the time of this issue, though the city was already in decline after yellow fever epidemics forced the colonial seat inland to Boissy-ville, later Abidjan.
Bellery-Desfontaines was primarily a poster artist and illustrator, an unusual choice for banknote design; the Florian brothers — Frédéric and Ernest-Théophile — handled the engraving, a family partnership that appears across several BAO issues of the period. The Banque de France printed the series under contract, as the BAO lacked its own production facilities.