Catalog
0,05 Franc
| Issuer | République Française - Colonies / Postes - Madagascar et Dépendances |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Green adhesive stamp. Two allegorical figures seated with fasces at center. Blue legend at bottom: MADAGASCAR ET DEPENDANCES. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | REPVBLIQVE FRANÇAISE COLONIES POSTES 5 MADAGASCAR ET DÉPENDANCES (Translation: French Republic colonies post. Madagascar and dependencies.) |
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| Comments |
Madagascar's 1920 fractional postal currency notes were a stopgap measure born from an acute coin shortage that affected French colonial territories in the aftermath of the First World War. Metal was scarce, shipping disrupted, and small-denomination coinage simply wasn't reaching the colonies in sufficient quantities. The solution — converting postage stamp designs into emergency paper money — was applied across multiple French colonial administrations simultaneously.
Mouchon's design was already decades old by this point, originally engraved for French definitive stamps in the 1900s. The postal administration repurposed it rather than commissioning anything new. These low-denomination notes circulated heavily and were poorly regarded; survival rates for uncirculated examples are consequently low.