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5 Francs Blue type
| Issuer | Banque de la Martinique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1855-1960) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Blue intaglio print on white paper with a native man and woman as lateral vignettes flanking the central composition, a cannon and anchor motif at lower center serving as emblems of colonial authority. Three signature varieties are known for this type. The text block carries the bank title, promise-to-pay legend, and penal code warning against counterfeiting. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in blue-green intaglio, the reverse is dominated by a central medallion enclosing a left-facing female portrait bust in classical style within an elaborate scrollwork surround. A caduceus rises above the central vignette, flanked symmetrically by two parrots perched on foliate branches, with star-filled circular guilloche panels at left and right. The denomination numeral "5" appears at each corner, and tropical foliage fills the lower register above the engravers' imprint. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de la Martinique was not an independent central bank in any modern sense — it operated under a concession framework tied directly to the Banque de France, which also handled its note production. That relationship explains why this 5 Francs draws so heavily on metropolitan French printing standards, with Robert handling the intaglio work on the face and Wullschleger cutting the reverse.
Harang, who worked under the pseudonym Cabasson, designed for the Banque de France across multiple colonial issues during this period. The same hand appears on notes for Guadeloupe and French Guiana from roughly the same years, making attribution straightforward but individual rarity harder to assess without provenance.