Catalog
2 Francs
| Issuer | Government of Madagascar and Dependencies |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in blue and olive-green, with a central vignette of Malagasy workers engaged in field labor against a town skyline background. The denomination '2f.' appears in a green box at lower centre, flanked by decorative guilloche borders in blue; the legend 'MADAGASCAR ET DÉPENDANCES' runs along the bottom band, while 'POSTES' is inscribed across the top and the Republican monogram 'R F' appears at upper left and right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | POSTES R F MADAGASCAR ET DÉPENDANCES 2f. |
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| 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.