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500 Francs
| Issuer | Bank of Algeria - French Administration |
|---|---|
| Year | 1956 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 142 × 73 mm |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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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 L`ALGÉRIE A.8-2-1956.A CINQ CENT FRANCS LE CAISSIER PRINCIPAL LE SECRÉTAIRE GÉNÉRAL L`ARTICLE 139 DU CODE PENAL PUNIT DES TRAVAUX FORCÉS A PERPÉTUITÉ LE CONTREFACTEUR. (Translation: Bank of Algeria Five Hundred Francs Principal Cashier General Secretary The article 139 of Penal Code will be punished by forced labor in perpetuity the counterfeiter.) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Profile of a Moorish woman in a medallion on the left. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Algeria operated under direct French Treasury oversight throughout the 1950s, and this 500 Francs issue appeared during a period of acute political stress — the Algerian War of Independence had been underway since November 1954. Notes of this series continued circulating through the transition period, remaining legal tender even as the political ground shifted beneath them.
Printed by the Banque de France's own workshops, the production quality is predictably high. Banque de France-printed colonial issues from this period are known for tight registration and consistent ink saturation, which makes condition assessment more reliable than with many contemporaneous African issues from commercial printers.
Algeria's monetary separation from France was not formalized until the creation of the Banque Centrale d'Algérie in 1963.