Catalog
5 Sylis
| Issuer | Banque Centrale de la République de Guinée |
|---|---|
| Year | 1980 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE CENTRALE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE DE GUINÉE CINQ SYLIS le 1er MARS 1960 MINISTRE DES FINANCES GOUVERNEUR BANQUE CENTRALE TOUT CONTREFACTEUR SERA PUNI PAR LA LOI EN VIGUEUR 1980 |
| Reverse description | A monochrome blue vignette occupies the central field, portraying workers carrying harvest baskets on their heads as they walk through a banana plantation, with dense palm foliage framing the scene on both sides and a radiating sunburst underprint in the background. The denomination numeral "5" appears in the upper-left corner and at lower right within the ornamental border. The inscription "CINQ SYLIS" is set in letterpress along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Guinea's 1980 Sylis notes were printed during a period of acute economic dysfunction under Sékou Touré's government, when the country had been effectively isolated from the Bretton Woods institutions for years following a complete break with the IMF. The Sylis itself was a non-convertible currency by design — Touré's ideology required it — which meant these notes circulated in a closed, largely barter-supplemented economy where the official exchange rate bore little relation to reality.
P#22 is among the lower denominations of the final Sylis series before Touré's death in 1984 prompted a currency overhaul and eventual reintroduction of the Franc Guinéen in 1985.