5 Francs Law of 1874

The Banque de la Guadeloupe was established in 1851 as one of the three colonial banks created by France for its Caribbean possessions following emancipation. This 5 Francs note, authorized under the Law of 1874, was printed by the Banque de France in Paris — the metropolitan central bank's printing operation serving the colonial issuers directly, which was common practice for the smaller Antilles banks that lacked the volume to justify independent contracts with commercial security printers.

Charles-Jules Robert engraved the obverse plates; Wullschleger handled the reverse. The designer credit to Harang, known professionally as Cabasson, places this within a recognizable mid-Third Republic aesthetic for French colonial small-denomination paper.