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25 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de la Martinique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922-1930 |
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| Currency | Franc (1855-1960) |
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| Obverse description | Brown intaglio-printed note with the large central inscription "vingt-cinq francs" in bold letterpress. The header reads "BANQUE DE LA MARTINIQUE" above the promise-to-pay clause "IL SERA PAYÉ EN ESPÈCES, À VUE, AU PORTEUR". Two circular vignettes flank the text — each containing dense legislative or regulatory text — with ornate guilloche borders at top and bottom; three manuscript signature lines appear in the lower portion for the Directeur, Caissier, and Censeur, with serial number and series indicator repeated in the upper and lower margins. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blue-tinted composition centred on a small sailing vessel amid stylised floral motifs, flanked by banana and coconut palm trees on either side. An aerial vignette of a coastal island landscape occupies the background, rendered in fine intaglio line engraving. Engraver and designer credits appear in the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de la Martinique operated under a colonial banking charter that gave it note-issuing authority across French Caribbean territories, but its circulation was always thin — the island's economy ran heavily on credit extended by sugar and rum trading houses, not banknote transactions. This 25 Francs denomination sits in the middle of a series that was progressively withdrawn as the Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer eventually absorbed colonial monetary functions after World War II.
Émile Crosbie's engraving work on this series is among the finer examples of French colonial intaglio of the period. The combination of Cornouailles on the obverse design and Georges Duval handling the reverse was typical of the collaborative division used by French colonial printers to distribute specialized labor across a single issue.