Catalog
25 Francs Saint-Louis
| Issuer | Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a West African landscape at sunset, framed on either side by a large elephant standing beneath a baobab tree, all rendered in intaglio engraving against a pale yellow-green guilloche underprint. The denomination numeral '25' appears in each corner, with the serial number and series letter in the upper panel. Three signature lines — Un Administrateur, Le Directeur, and Le Caissier — are printed across the lower centre, with the place and date of issue reading 'SAINT-LOUIS' above them. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE Vingt-Cinq Francs PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES, À VUE, AU PORTEUR SAINT-LOUIS h.Bellery Desfontaines del. ERNEST ET FREDERIC FLORIAN sc. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale was the sole bank of issue for French West Africa, and its wartime notes were produced under genuine pressure — by 1917, paper shortages and the demands of the Western Front had already disrupted French printing schedules significantly. That this series was completed at all, to the standard of the Banque de France's own ateliers, reflects how seriously colonial monetary stability was treated in Paris during the war years.
Bellery-Desfontaines was primarily an illustrator and poster artist, not a conventional banknote designer — an unusual choice. The Florian brothers handled engraving on several BAO issues of this period.