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5 écu - Bergerac
| Issuer | Banque des Collectionneurs et Commercants Bergeracois pour l'Europe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1995 |
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| Designer(s) | Veyll |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette presents a caricatural portrait of Cyrano de Bergerac — the fictional hero of Edmond Rostand's celebrated play — rendered in colour with his characteristic broad-brimmed hat, flowing hair, exaggerated nose, and rapier held across the foreground. To the left, a ring of twelve European stars frames a vignette of a church and a female figure in period dress; to the upper right, a grey-toned portrait inset of playwright Edmond Rostand appears alongside laurel branches. The denomination "5 ECU" is printed in decorative cartouches at both upper corners, with an ornamental scroll banner bearing the issuer's title across the top, three facsimile signatures (Le Président, Le Secrétaire, Le Trésorier), the date 1995, and the designer's name Veyll at lower centre. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by a panoramic colour vignette of the Périgord landscape, with a medieval château on a cliff, a manor house, grazing sheep, and a tall prehistoric standing figure at centre. To the right, a cave-art scene shows engraved animal figures on a ochre rock face, evoking the prehistoric heritage of the Dordogne. At left, a grey-toned portrait inset of Edmond Rostand is labelled with his name, the Bergerac coat of arms appears at upper left, and the Crédit Agricole logo is displayed in both lower corners. A central text cartouche at the bottom carries the legal disclaimer and validity conditions in italic lettering, with the denomination "35 Francs" in bold at both upper corners and the caption "PERIGORD: PAYS DE L'HOMME" at lower centre. |
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| Comments |
This is a collector's "écu" note — a private fantasy/souvenir issue produced during the brief cultural enthusiasm around the European Currency Unit in the mid-1990s, before the ECU was superseded by the euro. The Banque des Collectionneurs et Commercants Bergeracois pour l'Europe was not a licensed credit institution; notes like this circulated in local commerce only by mutual agreement and carried no legal tender status anywhere.
Bergerac had a minor tradition of such issues. The ECU's nominal peg to a basket of EU member currencies gave these regional pieces a veneer of legitimacy that purely fictional denominations would have lacked.