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50 Francs Neuchâtel Commercial Bank
| Issuer | Banque Commerciale Neuchâteloise |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883-1906 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Green intaglio-printed note with a central text panel bearing the bank's name and denomination in large letterpress type, flanked by a standing allegorical female figure in the left border vignette and a seated putto at the lower right. The denomination numeral '50' appears in each upper corner within ornate guilloche cartouches, with series and serial number in the upper field. Three manuscript signatures appear at the foot of the note beneath the roles of Caissier, Administrateur, and Directeur; the note is cancelled with multiple circular punch holes. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green, the reverse centres on a guilloche band carrying the trilingual denomination inscriptions stacked vertically in French, German, and Italian. Two circular portrait vignettes enclosed within dense repeating-numeral guilloche borders flank this central panel, the numeral '50' occupies each corner within additional guilloche cartouches, and continuous bands of repeated '50' numerals run along the upper and lower margins. The note bears multiple circular punch-hole cancellations. |
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| Comments |
The Banque Commerciale Neuchâteloise was one of several cantonal and private Swiss issuing banks operating before the Swiss National Bank's founding in 1907 effectively ended their note-issuing rights. This series straddles that transition — notes dated toward the end of the 1883–1906 window would have had a very short working life before redemption was required under the federal consolidation.
Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement is unremarkable in itself; the London firm printed for dozens of smaller European institutions throughout this period. What matters here is that a private Neuchâtel bank was commissioning security printing abroad rather than through Swiss domestic sources, a common enough arrangement but one that complicates provenance assumptions for undated or lightly dated examples.