Catalog
500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Algérie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943-1944 |
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| Reference(s) | P#19 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DE L'ALGÉRIE CINQ CENTS FRANCS ART. 139 _ LE CODE PÉNAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÉS A PERPÉTUITÉ LE CONTREFACTEUR. GEORGES DUVAL - FEC C ROMAGNOL - SC TUNISIE |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries a central allegorical vignette engraved in intaglio, showing a classically draped female figure — an allegory of Knowledge or Abundance — seated beneath a tree and consulting an open book, with a young child standing at her side amid scattered fruits and amphorae. A large blank octagonal watermark reserve appears at upper left, and an octagonal panel at upper right bears the denomination in Arabic script. The value '500' is repeated in large numerals at the bottom centre, flanked by Quranic text, with the legend 'CINQ CENTS FRANCS' running vertically along both side margins. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Algérie's wartime 500 Francs series emerged from an unusual administrative moment: Algeria was under Vichy control until November 1942, when Allied landings made it suddenly the provisional seat of French governmental authority. Notes issued across 1943–44 circulated in a territory that was simultaneously a French colony, an active military theater, and the de facto base of the Free French administration under Giraud and later de Gaulle.
Romagnoli's engraving work on this series is among the finer intaglio printing produced for French colonial currency of the period. Duval's design commission predated the occupation entirely, which created the awkward situation of Vichy-era institutional continuity in the artwork.