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5 Centimes
| Issuer | Afrique Occidentale Française - Côte d'Ivoire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Centimes (0.05) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A Côte d'Ivoire postage stamp in green and grey, affixed to a plain cardboard backing with perforated edges, bearing a central vignette of a river scene with a large tree and figures in a canoe. Flanking the central vignette are two lateral panels each bearing an African ceremonial figure. A bold black letterpress overprint reading 'Valeur d'échange' and '0 fr. 05' is applied across the face of the stamp, with the denomination '5c.' appearing in circular cartouches at lower left and right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Valeur d'échange 0 fr. 05 |
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| Comments |
French West Africa's postage stamp emergency currency is one of the stranger episodes in colonial monetary history. A wartime metal shortage had already pushed France to issue stamp-money (monnaie de nécessité) at home, and the same logic was applied in the AOF territories — existing postage stamps were mounted onto stiff cardboard and issued as fractional currency. The Côte d'Ivoire series of 1920 represents a later, regional application of that stopgap, well after the armistice had rendered the original emergency moot.
De La Nézière's engraving work appears on the stamp itself rather than the card mount.