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 Porto-Novo
| Issuer | Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| 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) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE CENT FRANCS PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES, A VUE, AU PORTEUR PORTO-NOVO h.Bellery Desfontaines del. ERNEST ET FREDERIC FLORIAN SC. |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Georges DUVAL . fecit. |
| 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 commercial institution operating under French government concession — not a central bank — which gives this note an unusual legal character. Porto-Novo, the designated place of payment, was the colonial capital of Dahomey, and the regional specificity of that designation reflects the BAO's practice of issuing location-coded notes across its West African branch network rather than a single undifferentiated currency.
Bellery-Desfontaines was primarily a poster artist and illustrator; his involvement in banknote design was occasional. The engraving was handled by the Florian brothers, both associated with the Banque de France's own printing workshops, which is consistent with the confirmed Paris printing.
1916 production for a colonial note of this denomination means wartime paper and wartime printing pressures — French metropolitan resources were stretched, and colonial currency work was not the priority.