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500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de la Guadeloupe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1887-1929 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in red and black, the note presents two large allegorical figures flanking the central text panel — a classical female figure at left and a robed male figure at right — with an elaborate lower vignette of putti surrounding cornucopias and scales. Two circular red guilloche medallions frame the central inscriptions, and a decorative foliate border encloses the entire composition. The engraver's signature BARRE F. appears within the design, with five known signature varieties across the issue. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#10a - watermark: Lion, snake, text "COLONIES" P#10b(1) - watermark: numeral "500" signature of Directeur: Mollenthiel P#10b(2) - watermark: numeral "500" signature of Directeur: Nigri P#10b(3) - watermark: numeral "500" signature of Directeur: Lefèvre P#10b(4) - watermark: numeral "500" signature of Directeur: Damoiseau |
| Comments |
The Banque de la Guadeloupe was one of the four colonial issuing banks established under French law in 1851, alongside its counterparts in Martinique, Réunion, and Guyane. These institutions operated under a framework that kept colonial currency supply formally separate from the Banque de France, though always subordinate to metropolitan monetary policy. The 500 Francs denomination would have been a large-value instrument in a plantation economy where most daily transactions ran far smaller.
Jacques-Jean Barre was the chief engraver at the Paris Mint — his name on colonial banknote designs of this period typically indicates plate work executed before his death in 1855, reused across decades of subsequent printings. The note's issue window spanning 1887 to 1929 almost certainly reflects a single plate design issued across multiple print runs rather than continuous fresh production.