Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 New Francs Overprint on 500 Francs
| Issuer | Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer |
|---|---|
| Year | 1961 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Banque de France, France |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | CAISSE CENTRALE DE LA FRANCE D'OUTRE-MER CONTRE-VALEUR DE 5 NOUVEAUX FRANCS GUYANE CINQ CENTS FRANCS C. SERVEAU FEC. G. BELTRAND SC. (Translation: Central Fund of Overseas France Counter-value of Five New Francs Guiana Five Hundred Francs) |
| Reverse description | Multicolour intaglio composition centred on two farmers guiding ox-drawn carts laden with harvested sugarcane, set against a tropical landscape with banana and pineapple plants flanking the borders. The denomination "500" appears in cartouches at upper left and upper right, with "GUYANE" inscribed vertically on both lateral margins and horizontally at top and bottom. A legal warning against counterfeiting is set in a decorative panel at the lower centre, with engraver and designer credits in the bottom margin. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The overprint on this note is itself a monetary policy event. When France redenominated in 1960 — converting at 100 old francs to one new franc — the Caisse Centrale had no time to issue fresh stock before the change took effect in its overseas territories, so existing 500-franc notes were simply stamped "5 NF" and pushed back into circulation. It was a stopgap, openly acknowledged as temporary.
Beltrand was one of the most technically accomplished intaglio engravers working for the Banque de France in the postwar decades. Serveau's design work for the Caisse Centrale series is considered among the more careful of the French colonial printings.