Catalog
1000 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Algérie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1875-1903 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Blue intaglio print on white paper. Central text panel carries the bank name and bearer clause in French and Arabic, flanked by allegorical female figure at left and male labourer at right. Lower vignette shows a reclining lion's head between two putti, with Arabic legend below. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#20a - Issued note. 1875; 1903. Rare |
| Comments |
The Banque de l'Algérie was established in 1851 as a colonial issuing authority, modeled loosely on the Banque de France but with tighter government oversight reflecting Paris's ambivalence about granting full monetary autonomy to a settler colony. This 1000 Francs denomination sat at the top of the circulation hierarchy and would have moved almost exclusively through commercial and government transactions — retail use at that level was effectively nonexistent in late 19th-century Algeria.
Cabasson's involvement places this firmly within the French academic engraving tradition of the period. The long issuance window — nearly three decades — means individual notes can vary in hand-completed date details, and serial numbering practices shifted across the run.