100 Francs Porto-Novo

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.