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5 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de la Réunion |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901-1944 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Francs |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Red intaglio print on a guilloche-patterned ground, with two medallic portrait vignettes — a male head at left and a female head at right — set within an oval frame flanked by the numeral 5 at each corner. The bank title and denomination CINQ FRANCS are printed in bold letterpress at center, with the statutory penalty text enclosed in a cartouche below the signature lines. Two manuscript signatures appear for Le Directeur and Le Caissier, with eight known signature varieties recorded for this type. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Dark gray intaglio print on an uncolored ground, with a central circular vignette containing a left-facing female portrait in classical style, set within an elaborate symmetrical design of scrollwork and foliage. Two parrots perch on branches at the upper left and right, while two circular medallions bearing star devices flank the composition at center left and right. The denomination numeral 5 appears at all four corners, and a rectangular cartouche at lower center carries the statutory legislative inscription. |
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| Comments |
Banque de la Réunion operated as a colonial bank of issue under French oversight, and this note's extended date range — over four decades — reflects just how rarely the series was refreshed for a small Indian Ocean territory. The plates were produced by Banque de France's own printing workshops, a privilege not extended to all colonial issuers; most relied on private firms like Bradbury Wilkinson or American Bank Note Company.
Charles-Jules Robert and Charles Wullschleger were both staff engravers within the Banque de France atelier, which accounts for the technical consistency between face and back — a pairing of in-house hands rather than contracted outside work.