Catalog
50 Francs - Belain d'Esnambuc
| Issuer | Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Francs (50 FCFA) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 50 CAISSE CENTRALE DE LA FRANCE D'OUTRE-MER 50 L'ART 139 DU CODE PÉNAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCES A PERPÉTUITÉ CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIÉ LES BILLETS DE BANQUES AUTORISÉES PAR LA LOI W. FEL. FEC. G. RÉGNIER SC. (Translation: Central Fund of Overseas France Article 139 of the Penal Code punishes with perpetual forced labor those who have counterfeited or falsified bank notes authorized by law.) |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Female head in profile |
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| Comments |
The Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer was established in 1944 to handle currency for French overseas territories after liberation, replacing the older colonial issuing bodies. This 50 Francs note, printed at the Banque de France's Paris workshops, circulated across multiple territories simultaneously — the same P#23 type served Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Réunion, distinguished only by the overprint or local authorization stamp applied at point of distribution.
Belain d'Esnambuc, the Norman adventurer who established the first permanent French settlement on Martinique in 1635, was a recurring honorific figure in French Caribbean note design of this period. Hourriez and Régnier were both staff engravers at the Banque de France with credits across numerous colonial issues of the 1940s.