Catalog
500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Algérie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1904-1924 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Francs (500 TNF) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central allegorical vignette with a standing male figure at centre, flanked by female profiles at left and right, with two griffins at lower centre in a symmetrical heraldic arrangement. The composition is executed in fine intaglio engraving after Cabasson's original design. Engraver's imprint CH - WULLSCHLEGER SC. appears in the lower margin alongside the date 1873. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Variants | P#5a - 09.05.1904 & 04.01.1909 signatures: Gantès, Moreau, Jacquet P#5b - 03.01.1924 - 16.04.1924 / 27.03.1924 signatures: Moyse, Moreau, Penalva |
| Comments |
The Banque de l'Algérie was established in 1851 as a colonial institution with note-issuing privileges, and by the time this 500 Francs series entered circulation it had consolidated a near-monopoly on Algerian credit. Printing was handled entirely by the Banque de France in Paris — a deliberate arrangement that kept control of colonial currency production firmly on the metropolitan side of the Mediterranean.
Stéphane Pannemaker was one of the most accomplished intaglio engravers working in France during this period, trained in a tradition of steel engraving that valued fine tonal gradation over decorative flourish. The twenty-year span of this issue, across two distinct signature combinations, means dating individual examples requires close attention to the countersigning officials rather than the design itself.