Catalog
2 Francs
| Issuer | Régence de Tunis |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1891-1957) |
| 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 | RÉGENCE DE TUNIS DEUX FRANCS فرنكان SÉRIE Nº DÉCRET DU 3 MARS 1920 13 DJOUMADI-ETTHANI 1338 الامر العالي المؤرخ في مارس 1920 في 13 جمادي الثانية 1338 Le Trésorier Général de Tunisie Le Directeur Général des Finances LE CONTREFACTEUR EST PUNI DES TRAVAUX FORCES À PERPÉTUITÉ المدنس يعاقب بالاشغال الشاقة على الابد VALEUR ÉCHANGEABLE CONTRE DES BILLETS DE LA BANQUE DE L'ALGÉRIE هاته التذكرة قابلة لمبادلة بتذاكر البانكة الجزائرية PROTECTORAT FRANÇAIS IMP. YVORRA & BARLIER . TUNIS J. FRIEDLING GRAVEUR |
| Reverse description | The reverse repeats the same two engraved putto caryatid figures at left and right, framing a dense letterpress guilloche background formed entirely by the repeated text DIRECTION GENERALE DES FINANCES. Two arched bands inscribed DIRECTION GÉNÉRALE DES FINANCES in larger type are placed at the upper and lower portions of the central field, while a circular official cancellation stamp is impressed at centre. Corner roundels carry the Arabic numeral denomination, and the header and footer repeat RÉGENCE DE TUNIS and PROTECTORAT FRANÇAIS. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
The Régence de Tunis small-denomination emergency notes of 1920–1921 were a direct response to the acute coin shortage that plagued the French protectorate during and immediately after the First World War. Metallic currency had been heavily hoarded and exported, and the Direction Générale des Finances stepped in with low-value paper to keep retail commerce moving.
Printing locally at Imprimerie Yvorra & Barlier rather than sending the work to mainland France kept turnaround fast, and Joseph Friedling — handling both design and engraving — was a Tunis-based practitioner, not a metropolitan specialist. The result is a note with a distinctly provincial character compared to contemporaneous French colonial issues done through the Banque de France's official printing apparatus.