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500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de la Guadeloupe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE LA GUADELOUPE 500 CINQ CENTS FRANCS PAYABLES EN ESPÈCES À VUE AU PORTEUR L'ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PÉNAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÉS À PERPÉTUITÉ LE CONTREFACTEUR LE DIRECTEUR UN CENSEUR LE CAISSIER SANTA MARIA E. A. WRIGHT BANK NOTE CO., PHILA. (Translation: Bank of Guadeloupe 500 Five Hundred Francs Payable in cash on demand to bearer Article 139 of the Penal Code punishes the counterfeiter with forced labour in perpetuity The Director A Censor The Cashier Santa Maria) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | BANQUE DE LA GUADELOUPE 500 CINQ CENTS FRANCS E. A. WRIGHT BANK NOTE CO., PHILA. (Translation: Bank of Guadeloupe 500 Five Hundred Francs) |
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| Comments |
Guadeloupe's franc-denominated notes of this period occupy an awkward political moment: the island remained under Vichy authority until mid-1943, meaning notes issued in 1942 circulated under a government that the Free French — and eventually the Allies — regarded as illegitimate. Whether this specific printing was ordered to sustain Vichy's administrative control or simply to meet routine liquidity demand is not cleanly documented, but the timing is uncomfortable.
E. A. Wright was a Philadelphia commercial engraver more associated with stock certificates and luxury stationery than sovereign currency — its banknote contracts were relatively few, and wartime logistics made transatlantic supply genuinely complicated.