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50 Centimes
| Issuer | Gouvernement Général de l'Afrique Occidentale Française (AOF), Colonie du Dahomey |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in black on plain paper, the reverse is text-only in character, presenting an extract of the decree of 11 February 1917 in italic script within a decorative typographic border. The denomination "50 CENTIMES" appears in bold at the top and bottom panels as well as vertically along both lateral margins, while a bold statement of legal tender status is set in larger type near the lower margin. The printer's imprint appears at the foot right. |
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| Variants | P#1a - watermark: bees P#1b - watermark: laurel leaves |
| Comments |
The AOF emergency fractional notes of 1917 exist because the First World War severed the supply of small coinage to French West Africa entirely. With metropolitan France diverting metal to the war effort, individual colonial administrations were authorized to print their own paper substitutes for coin denominations — an unusual devolution of monetary authority within the federation. Dahomey's issues were printed on Gorée Island, off Dakar, where the Gouvernement Général maintained its colonial press.
These fractional notes circulated alongside identical-format issues from other AOF colonies — Senegal, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire — distinguished only by the colony name. Survival rates are low; the paper was fragile, the denominations heavily used in daily trade.