Catalog
25 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923-1925 |
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| Currency | Franc (1917-1945) |
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| Obverse description | A central vignette framed by tall palm and baobab trees at left and right, with an elephant at each lower corner, rendered in fine intaglio engraving after a design by Bellery-Desfontaines. The denomination "Vingt-Cinq Francs" is set in large script lettering across the centre, above the payability clause, with the issuing place CONAKRY and date printed below. Guilloche-patterned corner numerals and a hexagonal underprint panel occupy the note's centre, with engravers' credits at lower left and right margins. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is entirely composed of an ornate geometric and arabesque framework, with interlocking diamond and triangular guilloche patterns filling the border panels on all four sides. A large diagonal cursive overprint in the centre reads "Afrique Equatoriale Française", superimposed over Arabic-script text arranged in horizontal lines across the face of the note. The engraver's credit "Georges DUVAL fecit" appears at the lower left margin. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale functioned as the colonial currency authority across French West Africa, and this note — issued across a narrow three-year window in the early 1920s — was printed by the Banque de France itself, an unusual arrangement that reflected the close institutional ties between the colonial bank and the metropolitan monetary establishment rather than any logistical necessity.
Bellery-Desfontaines was primarily a poster artist and illustrator, an unconventional choice for banknote design. The Florian brothers — Frédéric and Ernest-Théophile — handled the engraving, a family pairing that appears on several French colonial issues of the period.