25 Francs Grand-Bassam

The Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale was a private colonial bank, not a central bank in any modern sense — it held a concession to issue currency across French West Africa, a privilege that generated considerable political friction back in Paris. Grand-Bassam was the original colonial capital of Côte d'Ivoire before a yellow fever epidemic devastated the settlement and forced administrative relocation to Bingerville in 1900, so the place-of-payment designation on this note carries a quiet historical irony.

The Florian brothers — Frédéric and Ernest-Théophile — engraved the plates, working from designs by two separate artists. Bellery-Desfontaines was primarily an illustrator and poster artist, an unusual background for banknote work.