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50 Francs - Belain d'Esnambuc
| Issuer | Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947 |
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| Printer | Banque de France, France |
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| Obverse description | Multicolour intaglio note with a portrait vignette of Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc at left and a caravelle under full sail to the right, the whole overprinted with the text 'LA REUNION' in the margins. The design is an overprint on the base P#23 note of French Equatorial Africa, with the issuer's name and denomination panels framing the central composition. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Multicolour intaglio composition centred on a native woman adorned with beaded jewellery and a wrapped headdress, seated at left before a thatched hut structure, with a circular watermark void at centre and a stylised architectural vignette with tropical foliage to the right. The denomination numeral '50' appears in the upper corners and the overprint 'LA REUNION' is repeated in the upper and lower margins, with the penal code anti-counterfeiting legend inscribed on a cartouche at right. |
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| Comments |
The Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer was established in 1944 to manage currency across French overseas territories, replacing the colonial-era institutions that had operated with considerable autonomy. This 50 Francs note, part of a series intended to stabilize postwar colonial finances, was circulated across the French Antilles, Guiana, and Réunion — the same physical note serving jurisdictions thousands of miles apart.
Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc, the 17th-century Norman adventurer who established the first permanent French settlement on Martinique in 1635, was a recurring choice for French Caribbean currency. Hourriez's engraving on the face is technically accomplished; Régnier handled the reverse, a division of labor common at the Banque de France atelier for colonial issues.