1000 Francs Nouméa

The Banque de l'Indochine issued notes for a sprawling range of French territories, and this 1000 Francs is one of the more geographically specific: overprinted or designated for New Caledonia, with Nouméa as the named place of payment. The plate design itself dates to well before the war, and the Banque de France continued printing from it across a remarkably long window — the series ran through 1963, long after most comparable colonial emissions had been retired.

Jonas and Beltrand swapped roles between obverse and reverse — Jonas designed one face, Beltrand engraved it, and vice versa. An unusual reciprocal arrangement between two collaborators who worked together frequently in this period.