Catalog
500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1950-1952 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 160 × 82 mm |
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| Obverse description | The background is composed of ruined classical columns set within a Romanesque architectural frame. At centre foreground, a winged Victory head derived from a Greek bronze sculpture forms the principal vignette. The issuing authority legend and engravers' credits appear in the border lettering. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The central vignette reproduces an ancient Roman mosaic from Dougga, illustrating the three Cyclopes — Brontes, Steropes, and Pyracmon — at work in the forges of Jupiter. The denomination and engravers' credits are lettered below the vignette. |
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| Comments |
The Banque de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie was a dual-mandate institution — unusual in colonial banking — responsible for note issue across two distinct territories with different administrative statuses under French authority. This 500 Francs note was printed at the Banque de France workshops in Paris, which supplied intaglio work of a quality the colonial issuer could not replicate locally. Robert Poughéon was a well-regarded figure in French decorative arts; his involvement here reflects the degree to which metropolitan France invested in the visual prestige of its colonial currency.
The series was superseded when Tunisia moved toward its own central bank ahead of independence in 1956.