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1000 Francs Grand-Bassam
| Issuer | Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale |
|---|---|
| Year | 1924 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1000 Francs |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in blue-grey on an uncoloured ground, the reverse is composed of an intricate geometric framework of interlocking Islamic-influenced ornamental panels and corner medallions in a flat typographic style. Arabic script inscriptions appear in the upper banner and in two flanking text blocks at centre, with a large blank hexagonal reserve at the lower centre. A black overprint reading 'Côte d'Ivoire' is applied to this side. |
| Reverse lettering | بانك سوو جنت بانك افريك الغربي Georges DUVAL . fecit. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale operated as the sole note-issuing authority across French West Africa, and this 1000 Francs piece — the highest denomination in the series — was printed by the Banque de France itself, an arrangement that gave the colonial currency an unusual degree of metropolitan oversight and physical quality. The Florian brothers, Frédéric and Ernest-Théophile, handled the engraving, a pairing also found on several Banque de France issues of the same period.
Grand-Bassam, the place of payment named on the note, was the former colonial capital of Côte d'Ivoire, already superseded by Bingerville by 1900 and later by Abidjan — making its continued appearance on currency well into the 1920s a bureaucratic holdover rather than a reflection of the town's actual commercial importance.