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2 Francs
| Issuer | Trésor Colonial de la Guadeloupe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1884 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black letterpress on violet-tinted paper, the note is enclosed within a decorative typographic border incorporating a chain-link guilloche pattern. The issuing authority "TRÉSOR COLONIAL" and denomination "DEUX FRANCS" are set in bold letterpress type, flanked by the signature lines of the Délégué du Directeur de l'Intérieur and the Trésorier-Payeur, with the serial number entered in manuscript between them. A guarantee clause reading "La contre-valeur en espèces est déposée au Trésor" is set in smaller type at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is uniface, printed on the same violet paper as the obverse and devoid of any typographic or illustrative content. A faint mirror impression of the obverse letterpress is visible through the paper stock, and a handstamped notation appears in the upper left area. |
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| Comments |
Trésor Colonial issues for the French Antilles in this period were emergency substitutes for coin, not products of conventional central banking. The 1884 Guadeloupe 2 Francs belongs to a locally administered series issued when small-denomination coinage was chronically absent from circulation — a persistent problem across French Caribbean territories throughout the nineteenth century.
Pick 3A is among the genuinely rare survivors of a series that was issued in small quantities, heavily circulated, and subject to periodic redemption drives that pulled most examples out of existence. The Trésor Colonial, subordinate to the metropolitan treasury rather than an independent bank, had no printing infrastructure of its own.