Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 Francs
| Issuer | Government of Madagascar and Dependencies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in monochrome on plain paper and presents a central vignette of a standing zebu, the characteristic humped cattle of Madagascar, rendered in a simple engraved style. The Malagasy inscription 'Venty sy kiroho' appears vertically along the left margin, while the denomination '2 Francs' is inscribed vertically along the right margin. |
| Reverse lettering | Venty sy kiroho 2 Francs |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Madagascar was administered as a French colony under a single unified authority that also governed the Comoros and other Indian Ocean dependencies — hence the cumbersome issuing name. The 1916 date places this squarely in the middle of the First World War, when the metropolitan French economy was under severe strain and small-denomination coinage had largely disappeared from circulation throughout the empire due to metal hoarding and wartime requisition.
These emergency fractional notes were a stopgap against the resulting change shortage. Survival rates are low; the lightweight paper used for low-denomination colonial issues of this period deteriorated quickly in humid tropical conditions.