20 Nouveaux Francs / New Francs Overprint on P#28 - 1000 Francs

The Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer introduced the nouveau franc in its overseas territories following the metropolitan reform of January 1960, which redenominated the French franc at 100 old francs to one new. Rather than commission entirely new plates, existing 1000-franc stock (Pick 28) was overprinted — a stopgap that left both the old and new denominations readable on the same note. The conversion arithmetic was straightforward; the optics were awkward.

Poughéon and Fell's original engraved design, already in circulation for years across multiple French overseas territories, was shared across several CCFOM issues simultaneously — the same base plates appeared in different jurisdictions with minor modifications.