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2.50 Francs
| Issuer | Trésor des Établissements Français de l'Océanie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | The note is printed in black and red on plain paper, with a decorative border of tropical foliage — broad leafy branches in the upper corners and stylised wave motifs at the lower left and right. The denomination DEUX FRANCS CINQUANTE appears in large red letterpress across the centre, flanked on each side by the numeral 2,50. A circular violet official treasury stamp and a manuscript signature of the Trésorier-Payeur are applied over the centre of the note. The designer and printer credits appear in small text along the bottom margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in black and red on a plain background with a ruled grid border. At centre-left, a stylised cartouche in the form of a map outline contains the emission guarantee text in red script. A lighthouse vignette appears at the upper left of the cartouche, with a small sailing vessel beside it. To the right of the cartouche stands a decorative Gallic rooster. At the far right, a vertical oval panel encloses a traditional Oceanian tiki figure, with the denomination numeral 2,50 in red alongside. |
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| Comments |
Wartime necessity drove this note into existence. With supply lines from metropolitan France severed after the fall of Paris in 1940, French Oceania had to produce its own emergency currency locally — Ferrand's print shop in Papeete being the only remotely viable option. The result is technically crude by any professional standard, which is exactly what you'd expect from a commercial printer pressed into fiduciary service.
The 2.50 franc denomination itself was an awkward stopgap, introduced to cover the absence of coinage that could no longer be shipped from France. Reboul-Salze designed the series, but Ferrand's limitations kept the execution modest.